THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF 


AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 
DIALECTIC  AND  PHILANTHROPIC 

SOCIETIES 


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.M32 
1898 


H^RSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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LIFE  OF 


\j\j  i 


MARY  F.  McCRAY. 


i£*  ((?*  5^*  (£* 


BORN  AND  RAISED  A  SLAVE 
STATE  OF  KENTUC 

t^*       (i9*      t^*      ((?* 


BY  HER  HUSBAND  ANDXON. 


^*      ^*      (^*      t^* 


LIMA,  OHIO. 
1898. 


PREFACE. 

t^*       ((?*       t^* 

It  is  after  much  meditation  and  prayer  that  we  undertake 
the  task  before  us,  for  the  reason  that  we  feel  keenly  our  ina- 
bility to  do  justice  in  writing  this  book,  the  subject  of  which 
said  many  times  during  the  last  two  years  of  her  life  that  she 
believed  that  if  the  history  of  her  life  was  written  it  would  be 
a  great  blessing  to  many  who  are  burdened  down  with  the 
cares  of  this  life,  and  who  know  nothing  or  little  of  Him  who 
has  said,  "Cast  all  your  burdens  on  Me,  for  I  care  for  you." 
For  we  can  truly  say  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  did  know 
some  things  about  the  trials  of  this  life,  for  she  was  born  in 
the  dark  dark  days  of  slavery,  when  there  was  not  a  ray  of 
light  for  the  freedom  of  the  colored  race.  We  hope  that  the 
reader  will  bear  with  us  for  speaking  of  the  bondage  of  the 
colored  race  in  this  United  States,  as  the  subject  was  once  a 
slave,  and  the  enslavement  of  the  colored  race  was  a  terrible 
curse  on  the  American  people.  Our  blessed  Lord,  in  His  own 
good  time,  said  that  they  had  suffered  enough,  so  slavery  was 
destroyed  by  a  terrible  war  and  the  loss  of  many  lives.  But 
at  the  present  time  there  is  a  greater  curse  on  this  nation  than 
the  enslavement  of  the  colored  race,  that  is,  the  awful  curse  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  which  touches  every  man,  woman  and  child. 
Many  volumes  might  be  written  on  this  terrible  curse,  but  it 
would  be  impossible  to  begin  to  tell   of  the  suffering  it  brings 


to  the  human  family.     We  say  sometimes,  Oh,  Lord,  how  long 
wilt  thou  let  this  go  on? 

The  object  in  writing  the  life  of  this  woman  is  not  to  make 
money,  but  it  was  her  wish  and  desire,  that  it  might  be  a  great 
blessing  to  many  readers,  and  to  let  them  know  what  it  is  to 
live  a  holy,  self-denial  life  amidst  all  the  duties  of  this  life, 
for  she  was  a  good  woman  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of 
faith.  She  did  much  good  to  all  wherever  her  lot  was  cast. 
Hoping  that  this  work  may  prove  as  great  a  blessing  to  its- 
readers  as  it  has  to  its  author  and  those  who  helped  in  compos- 
ing its  pages,  we  dedicate  this  photograph  of  a  woman  of  God 
to  all  that  love  a  pure,  clean,  complete,  and  full  salvation, 
free  from  all  sin  to  all  people  in  every  land. 


CHAPTER    I  . 

t£*       t2&       (^* 

BIRTH    AND    PARENTS    OF    SUBJECT. 

Her  father's  name  was  Jonathan  Taylor.  He  was  born  in 
Jefferson  county,  Kentucky.  His  master  was  his  father,  so 
that  he  was  born  free  and  did  not  serve  as  a  slave.  Her 
mother  was  born  in  old  Hamilton  county,  of  the  same  state. 
The  date  of  their  marriage  could  not  be  ascertained.  To  them 
were  born  sixteen  children,  fourteen  girls  and  two  boys,  all 
destined  to  serve  in  slavery.  Providentially,  the  owner  of  the 
subject's  mother  was  an  old  maid.  She  was  very  good  to  her 
slave,  and  did  not  allow  them  to  be  abused,  as  were  those  be- 
longing to  many  others.  The  subject's  mother  had  all  the  care 
of  her  family  herself,  while  her  sister  had  all  the  clothes  to 
make  for  all  the  rest  of  the  slaves  on  the  place.  In  addition 
she  had  much  other  work,  which  kept  her  busy  every  moment 
during  the  day  and  far  into  the  night,  so  that  she  might  earn 
a  litttle  money  to  buy  her  children  some  clothes  to  wear  on 
Sunday.  The  holders  did  not  make  any  provision  for  Sunday 
clothes  for  their  slaves,  but  let  them  go  any  way,  so  that  it 
was  a  hard  and  miserable  life  to  live. 


CHAPTER    II. 

(£*        t(?*        (^* 

BIRTH    OF    SUBJECT    AND    HER    CHILDHOOD    DAYS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  May  26,  1837.  She 
was  the  fifth  child  of  the  family,  and  was  also  the  favorite 
child,  as  she  was  named  after  her  mother.  Her  mother  always 
said  that  she  knew  Fannie  would  get  along  well,  as  she  was 
always  ready  to  help  her  mother  to  do  the  work  about  the 
house,  and  loved  to  sow  and  knit  and  piece  quilts.  She  had 
to  do  all  this  kind  of  work,  and  did  it  mostly  at  night,  as  all 
the  slaves  were  obliged  to  work  out  on  the  plantation,  men, 
women  and  children,  from  morning  until  night. 

The  subject  was  always  an  obedient  and  tender  hearted 
child,  always  inclined  to  be  religious.  Whenever  she  heard  of 
the  death  of  any  one,  her  first  inquiry  was,  whether  they  had 
religion.  She  always  thought  that  everybody  who  died  must 
be  converted,  although  she  was  not  converted  herself. 

Her  father  was  a  great  violin  player,  and  taught  his 
daughter  how  to  dance,  as  he  was  a  very  wicked  man,  and  her 
mother  was  a  wicked  woman.  So  there  were  none  in  her  family 
to  encourage  her  to  seek  the  Lord.  Consequently,  she  began 
to  be  hardened  in  sin,  and  learned  to  be  quite  a  dancer,  in 
common  with  the  rest  of  the  young  people  in   that  neighbor- 


9 

hood.  Her  aunt  was  a  good,  Christian  woman  and  was  the 
first  to  speak  to  her  about  the  salvation  of  her  soul.  Her 
aunt  said  to  her  one  night  while  she  was  preparing  to  go  to  a 
ball,  these  words:  "Fanny,  when  will  you  stop  dancing? 
You  will  keep  on  until  some  of  you  will  dance  into  hell."  She 
answered:  "Aunt  Margaret  (which  was  her  aunt's  name) 
this  is  my  last  time."  Her  aunt  then  said :  "Fanny,  you 
are  not  only  promising  this  to  me,  but  to  the  Lord  also."  The 
girl  replied,  "  I  did  not  know  that  the  promise  I  made  was  to 
the  Lord,  too,"  and  from  that  time  on  the  words  of  her  aunt 
followed  her  until  she  was  under  deep  conviction  for  the  pardon 
of  her  sins.     She  was  then  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 


10 


CHAPTER   III. 

e^*    <&*    c^* 

♦ 

HER    COMMISSION. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  churches  for  the  slaves  on  the 
plantation,  but  they  were  compelled  to  go  from  one  plantation 
to  another  to  hold  their  meetings  in  their  log  cabins.  She 
used  to  go  with  her  aunt  and  others  to  those  prayer  meetings. 
The  mighty  power  of  God  would  be  in  the  meetings.  They 
would  hold  their  meetings  sometimes  nearly  all  night.  Many 
would  fall  under  the  mighty  power,  of  God,  and  many  of  them 
would  get  soundly  converted. 

Our  subject  was  greatly  urged  to  seek  the  Lord.  She  went 
forward  and  soon  found  that  she  was  a  lost  sinner  without  the 
blood  of  Jesus  to  wash  away  all  her  sins. 

They  would  work  hard  all  day  in  the  corn  fields  and  nearly 
every  night  would  go  two  or  three  miles  from  home  to  attend 
meeting.  Many  were  converted  every  night.  She  was  some- 
what discouraged  because  she  was  so  slow  to  believe.  Her 
cousin  fell  under  the  mighty  power  of  God,  and  was  happily 
converted,  coming  through  shouting  and  praising  God,  and 
commenced  at  once  to  preach  to  the  people,  telling  them  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  She  said  to  our  subject  to  believe 
and  she  would  be  converted.     This  encouraged  her  to  go  on. 


11 

She  was  trying  to  get  converted  shouting,  like  her  cousin,  but 
the  Dear  Lord  did  not  come  to  her  in  that  way.  She  did  rea- 
son with  the  devil  for  some  time,  who  told  her  that  if  she  did 
not  shout  she  would  not  have  religion.  She  had  a  terrible 
struggle  to  get  over  that.  After  that  terrible  struggle  about 
getting  converted  shouting,  her  faith  was  greatly  increased,  and 
while  she  was  praying  one  day  she  was  wonderfully  blessed. 
She  told  her  cousin  how  she  felt.  Her  cousin  told  her  that  she 
had  religion.  She  said,  "Oh,  no,  I  am  just  getting  in  a  good 
way."  She  did  not  understand  the  scheme  of  the  devil,  so  she 
was  defeated  and  had  to  do  her  work  all  over  again.  But  the 
Holy  Spirit  still  strove  with  her.  The  meetings  were  still  go- 
ing on  with  increased  power.  She  attended  nearly  ever  night. 
The  old  people  encouraged  her,  and  then  she  began  to  take  part 
in  speaking  and  praying.  By  so  doing  the  same  blessing  came 
to  her  again,  but  she  was  not  satisfied.  She  went  on  in  that 
state  quite  a  long  time.  Finally  one  night  she  went  to  bed  and 
fell  into  a  dream,  or  trance,  she  did  not  know  which.  How- 
ever, a  man  came  to  her  while  she  was  in  that  vision.  She  was 
trying  to  cross  a  clear  stream  of  water.  The  man  she  believed 
to  be  a  white  man.  He  threw  a  narrow  board  in  the  middle  of 
the  stream  of  water,  and  there  was  also  a  broad  board  in  the 
stream.  The  man  told  her  to  make  her  choice.  She  stepped 
on  the  narrow  one  and  went  across.  As  soon  as  she  was  across 
he  showed  her  a  beautiful  place  and  told  her  it  was  heaven. 
She  saw  her  cousin  there  and  she  was  with  all  the  angels.  They 
were  all  just  alike.  She  turned  to  come  back,  when  she  heard 
a  voice  saying  :  "You  have  just  as  much  religion  as  those  who 
shout."  After  that  she  woke  up.  She  felt  very  strange  and 
told  her  aunt  about  the  vision.     Her  aunt  said  that  she  would 


12 

get  through  all  right.  In  a  short  time  afterwards  she  received 
the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  her  sins  were  all  forgiven. 
She  was  then  a  happy  girl.  She  knew  that  her  sins  were  all 
washed  away  by  the  blood  of  Jesus.     She  could  sing  this  song : 

"Oh  !  happy  day,  that  fixed  my  choice, 

On  Thee,  my  Savior  and  my  God; 

Well  may  this  glowing  heart  rejoice, 

And  tell  its  rapture  all  abroad." 

"Happy  day!   Happy  day! 

When  Jesus  washed  my  sins  away. 

He  taught  me  how  to  watch  and  pray, 

And  live  rejoicing  every  day, 

Happy  day  !   Happy  day! 

When  Jesus  washed  my  sins  away." 

The  meeting  spread  from  one  plantation  to  another,  and 
many  of  the  poor  slaves'  hearts  were  made  to  rejoice,  for  the 
Lord  Jesus  visited  them,  notwithstanding  they  were  treated 
only  as  cattle  and  horses.  Thanks  be  unto  the  Lord  God  of 
Heaven,  who  did  look  down  upon  them  in  their  helpless  con- 
dition in  tender  mercy. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  faithful  young  Christian, 
laboring  in  the  prayer  meetings  from  house  to  house.  They  did 
not  have  churches  of  their  own.  She  related  that  one  night 
their  prayer  meeting  continued  until  daylight,  the  power  of 
God  having  fallen  upon  the  people  in  such  a  wonderful  manner 
that  they  fell  on  the  floor  like  dead  men  and  women.  Many 
of  them  had  to  go  one,  two  and  three  miles  to  their  homes,  and 
some  of  them  were  greatly  punished  for  being  away  from  their 
houses  at  that  late  hour  of  night,  for  most  all  of  them  were 


13 

compelled  to  go  to  work  before  daylight.  But  in  spite  of  all 
this  cruel  treatment  they  would  pray  and  sing  so  that  it  would 
disturb  their  old  masters  so  that  they  could  not  sleep  and  they 
would  whip  them,  but  still  the  poor  slaves  would  continue  to 
serve  the  Lord. 

Our  subject  said  that  one  of  the  masters  in  that  part  of 
Kentucky,  a  cruel  slave  holder  whose  name  we  can  not  recall, 
had  a  slave  (a  man)  by  the  name  of  Dick,  who  was  a  true  man 
of  God.  His  master  was  so  bitterly  opposed  to  his  serving  the 
Lord  as  not  to  even  permit  him  to  return  thanks  at  the  table 
before  taking  his  meals.  But  Dick  had  settled  the  matter,  and 
the  more  his  master  would  punish  him  the  more  he  would  pray 
for  his  master.  At  length  his  prevailing  prayer  with  his  God 
was  the  salvation  of  his  master,  and  he  was  converted  in  a 
wonderful  manner  at  a  camp  meeting.  Dick  was  present,  and 
his  master  ran  to  him,  threw  his  arms  around  him  and  took 
him  up  and  carried  him  around  in  the  camp  ground.  After  his 
conversion  he  set  Dick  free,  and,  giving  him  a  horse,  saddle 
and  bridle,  told  him  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  everywhere. 
He  also  set  free  all  the  rest  of  his  slaves.  Oh,  it  is  wonderful 
how  God  can  use  a  man.     This  is  true 


14 


CHAPTER    IV. 

(£•  6^*  t£& 

Our  subject's  associations  were  mostly  among  the  old 
Christians,  and  her  Christian  life  was  far  in  advance  of  many 
of  her  elders.  So  much  was  this  the  case  that  some  of  the 
older  Christians  would  tell  her  that  she  could  live  in  that 
happy  state  of  mind.  She  thought  this  very  strange  talk  for 
the  elder  Christians  to  tell  to  young  converts,  but  it  was  her 
delight  to  serve  the  Lord.  In  her  younger  days  she  would  work 
hard  all  day  in  the  field  with  the  rest  of  the  field  hands,  and 
then  would  walk  to  a  prayer  meeting,  should  there  chance  to 
be  one  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood.  Frequently  she  would 
walk  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles.  This  song  was  her  in- 
spiring hope : 

Oh,  how  happy  are  they  who  their  Savior  obey, 

And  have  laid  up  their  treasures  above. 
Tongue  can  never  express  the  sweet  comfort  and  peace 

Of  the  soul  in  its  earliest  love. 
That  sweet  comfort  was  mine  when  the  favor  divine 

I  first  found  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
When  my  heart  first  believed,  what  a  joy  I  received, 

What  a  heaven  in  Jesus'  name. 
Jesus  all  the  day  long  was  my  joy  and  my  song, 

Oh,  that  all  His  salvation  might  see. 
He  hath  loved  me,  I  cried,  He  has  suffered  and  died, 

To  redeem  even  rebels  like  me. 


15 

Her  life  was  a  life  of  joy  in  serving  the  Lord.  Her  mis- 
press, who,  as  before  stated,  was  an  old  maid,  and  very  kind  to 
her  slaves.  It  was  the  custom  among  slave  owners  to  hire  a 
poor  white  man  as  overseer.  Most  all  overseers  were  very  cruel 
to  the  slaves  in  their  charge.  Our  subject's  mistress  always 
had  an  overseer,  but  did  not  allow  him  to  treat  her  slaves  illy, 
so  they  were  favored  in  the  way  of  kind  treatment  above  all 
the  other  slaves  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  she  lived.  Also 
some  of  the  slaves  might  have  had  somewhat  of  an  education 
had  they  wanted  it,  but  not  knowing  that  they  ever  would  be 
free  failed  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity.  As  slaves, 
they  did  not  need  an  education.  Slaves  in  those  days  did  not 
know  the  words  in  a  book,  but  they  did  know  how  to  serve  the 
Lord.  Our  subject's  trial  was  as  a  Christian.  Her  mother  was 
sick  most  of  the  time,  and  her  mistress  finally  became  im- 
patient and  offered  her  for  sale  to  her  father  for  the  sum  of 
fifty  dollars.  But  he  would  not  buy  her,  as  he  said  he  could 
have  no  use  for  slaves  subject  to  ill  health  all  the  time.  But 
had  she  been  a  healthy  woman  this  man  could  not  have 
bought  her  for  less  than  five  or  six  hundred  dollars.  Slave 
women  always  sold  as  high  in  price  as  men.  Good  able  bodied 
slaves  never  sold  for  less  than  from  six  to  nine  hundred  dollars. 
A  good  carpenter,  blacksmith  or  bricklayer  always  sold  for 
from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  The  reader  will 
have  an  idea  from  this  how  those  poor  human  beings  were 
bought  and  sold  as  horses  and  cattle. 

Her  mother  had  another  very  severe  attack  of  sickness, 
worse  than  she  had  ever  had,  and  the  doctors  said  she  must 
die.  She  was  now  under  a  very  heavy  burden.  The  thought 
"that  her  mother  might  die  without  being  consecrated  brought 


16 

her  faith  to  a  severe  test,  as  she  was  only  a  young  Christian. 
In  these  hours  of  trouble  and  bewilderment  she  called  upon 
the  Lord,  as  Jacob  did  in  the  days  of  old.  She  wrestled  in 
prayer  and  expressed  her  thoughts  to  God  for  the  salvation  of 
her  mother.  Her  prayers  were  answered.  Her  mother  became 
suddenly  converted  and  lived  a  long  time  afterward.  She 
finally  died  triumphant  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  went  home 
to  glory.  It  was  a  very  great  trial  for  her  to  see  her  mother  die 
and  leave  all  of  them  behind.  The  youngest  child  was  only 
three  years  old,  but  the  dear  Lord  gave  her  grace  to  bear  up 
under  her  burdens,  all  for  His  name's  sake,  for  we  know  that 
He  does  all  things  for  the  best. 

Her  mother  then  being  gone,  all  the  responsibilities  of  the 
family  fell  upon  her,  as  her  father  did  not  live  on  the  same 
plantation  with  them.  He  only  came  home  once  a  week,  so 
that  not  much  of  the  family  cares  could  rest  upon  him.  She 
had  to  fill  the  place  in  the  household  which  her  mother  had 
occupied,  as  her  sister  did  not  take  much  interest  in  the  care 
of  the  children.  She  was  the  only  one  in  the  family  who  was 
a  Christian.  From  this  she  learned  much  about  the  strong 
arm  of  the  Lord,  who  has  promised  to  be  with  us  six  hours, 
and  in  the  seventh  He  will  not  forsake  us.  Oh,  how  we  ought 
to  praise  God  for  His  wonderful  saving  grace. 


17 


CHAPTER    VI. 

t£*       (<?*       ^9* 

THE    DEATH    OF    HER    MISTRESS. 

Our  subject's  mistress  died  in  the  year  A.  D.  1859.  She 
stated  in  her  will  that  all  her  relations,  each  and  every  one, 
should  have  a  share  in  her  estate.  Then  her  slaves  were  to  be 
set  free  and  a  certain  sum  of  money  was  set  apart  to  bring 
them  to  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  also  enough  money  to  buy 
eighty  acres  of  land  for  each  of  the  two  families.  Our  sub- 
ject's father's  family  was  one  of  the  two,  and  her  mother's 
sister's  family  was  the  other.  The  name  of  the  sister  was 
Margaret  Taylor.  Most  all  the  slaves  of  the  mistress  was  em- 
braced in  those  two  families.  A  short  time  after  her  estate 
was  settled,  some  of  her  relations  were  enraged  because  Aunt 
Polly  Adams,  as  they  called  her,  had  set  her  slaves  free.  So 
some  of  them  began  at  once  an  attempt  to  break  the  will.  Miss 
Polly  Adams  was  never  a  married  lady.  She  had  made  two 
wills,  and  it  was  the  last  one  that  contained  the  provisions  for 
the  freedom  of  her  slaves  and  their  removal  to  Ohio.  How- 
ever her  relations  kept  the  slaves  there  for  three  years  while 
they  were  trying  to  break  the  will.  One  complaint  was  that 
Miss  Polly  had  willed  real  estate  to  her  slaves.  Their  lawyers 
informed  them  that  it  was  useless  for  them  to  complain,  as 


18 

the  will  could  never  be  broken.  Then  the  freed  slaves  were 
told  to  go  to  the  place  assigned  to  them.  They  were  not  loiag 
in  getting  to  this  place,  as  they  were  only  three  miles  from  the 
Ohio  river.  They  took  the  steamer  at  a  place  called  Hannily's 
Landing  for  Cincinnati.  After  their  arrival  in  that  city  they 
met  a  gentleman  who  had  been  notified  of  three  colored  people 
who  had  just  arrived  from  the  South  and  was  ready  to  take 
care  of  them.  The  writer  can  truly  say  that  Mr.  Coffin  was  a 
true  friend  indeed  to  colored  people.  For  many  years  he  was 
the  leading  man  of  the  city,  and  helped  many  poor  slaves  from 
the  land  of  bondage  to  the  land  of  freedom. 

In  the  dark  days  of  slavery,  when  the  black  laws  of  the 
United  States  was  in  force,  which  carried  a  penalty  of  five 
hundred  dollars  fine  and  several  years  in  the  penitentiary  for 
any  person  that  would  assist  a  slave  to  escape  from  bondage  to 
freedom,  the  writer  can  say  that  many  white  men  of  the  north- 
ern states  gave  up  their  property,  yes,  and  some  of  them  their 
lives,  in  rescuing  poor  slaves  from  their  bondage.  Mr.  Levi 
Coffin  stood  at  the  head  of  his  followers  in  this  noble  work  of 
rescuing  slaves  that  came  into  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  This 
man's  house  was  the  union  depot  of  all  underground  railways. 
It  may  be  better  to  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  under- 
ground railway.  It  means  that  white  men  organized  themselves 
into  a  body  to  help  those  poor  slaves  who  had  energy  and  per- 
severance enough  to  run  away  from  bondage  and  seek  a  land  of 
liberty.  They  would  establish  stations  a  number  of  miles  apart, 
generally  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  members.  They  would 
conceal  the  slaves  who  chanced  to  be  under  their  protection 
during  the  daytime,  but  as  soon  as  the  shades  of  night  began 
to  fall  the  slaves  were  placed  in  covered  wagons  and  taken, 


19 

concealed  as  freight,  to  another  one  of  the  stations.  This  pro- 
cess was  kept  up  until  they  reached  the  union  depot,  and  then 
they  were  transferred  into  Canada,  this  being  the  only  place 
where  runaway  slaves  were  sure  of  a  safe  refuge.  Hundreds 
sought  their  freedom  in  this  manner. 

The  writer  can  say  that  the  colored  people  were  subjected 
to  a  great  deal  of  abuse  and  ill  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
white  people  of  the  North,  not  because  they  were  less  worthy  of 
respect  than  any  other  people,  but  simply  because  their  faces 
were  black.  The  story  of  the  terrible  suffering  of  the  colored 
people  of  the  South  at  the  close  of  the  war  has  never  yet  been 
printed.  Many  of  the  rebels  would  mask  themselves  and  amuse 
themselves  by  horse-whipping  the  poor  slaves.  Yes,  and  even 
assassinate  them,  taking  the  lives  of  whole  families.  These 
crimes  continued  for  years,  but  those  cruel  days  have  been 
washed  away  by  the  tide  of  time,  never  to  return  again. 

It  has  been  said  that  our  race  of  people  can  never  stand  on 
a  level  with  the  whites,  but  we  candidly  deny  that  statement. 
The  white  race  has  been  more  than  five  thousand  years  climb- 
ing the  ladder  of  fame,  while  the  colored  race  has  only  had  op- 
portunities for  improvement  for  about  two  hundred  years. 
But  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  progress  of  the  Negro  race 
has  been  wonderful.  We  believe  that  had  proper  steps  been 
taken  and  careful  observations  made  of  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  the  South  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  Negro  race  would  be 
seventy  years  in  advance  of  the  position  it  occupies  to-day. 
The  bloody  war  resulted  in  envy,  hatred,  strife,  malice  and 
prejudice  between  the  black  and  the  white,  which  is  sin  of  the 
worst  nature.  There  was  no  kind  of  brotherly  love  shown,  but, 
rather,  man's  inhumanity  to  man,  which  has  caused  countless 


20 

thousands  to  mourn.  Christ  teaches  us  to  love  one  another, 
and  nothing  but  the  blood  of  Christ  can  remedy  this  condition 
and  save  people  from  all  evil. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

(<?*    fe?*    ^* 

THE  PUECHASE  OF  LAND  FOR  THE  TAYLOR   FAMILY. 

Mr.  Coffin  took  charge  of  the  two  families  of  Taylors. 
That  was  also  the  name  of  the  husband  of  the  aunt  of  our  sub- 
ject, although  he  was  no  relative  to  her  father.  Mr.  Coffin 
looked  out  for  a  location  for  the  families,  and  succeeded  in  rent- 
ing two  large  houses,  in  which  they  began  to  keep  house.  In 
the  family  of  which  our  subject  was  a  member  there  were  no 
boys,  the  two  born  into  the  family  having  died  when  quite 
young.  Consequently  the  large  girls  had  to  do  all  the  hard 
work.     Some  of  them  went  to  work  in  private  families. 

They  remained  in  the  city  quite  a  long  time,  but  at  least 
Mr.  Coffin  went  to  Mercer  county,  Ohio,  to  buy  them  a  farm 
with  the  money  left  them  by  their  mistress.  This  was  suffi- 
cient to  buy  them  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  land. 
It  took  him  some  time  to  bargain  for  a  farm,  but  he  finally 
succeeded,  having  purchased  one  that  was  well  timbered.  He 
then  returned  to  the  city  and  reported  his  success.     It  was  then 


21 

some  time  before  they  could  move,  as  there  were  no  railroads 
in  that  country  in  those  days,  the  only  way  of  transportation 
being  the  canal.  They  packed  their  goods  and  started  on  a 
canal  boat  for  their  new  home.  This  mode  of  travel  was  very 
poor,  as  compared  with  the  quick  transportation  of  the  present 
day,  as  the  boats  were  drawn  by  mules  or  horses,  and  hence  but 
slow  progress  was  made.  At  length,  however,  at  the  end  of 
thirteen  days  they  arrived  at  New  Bremen,  Mercer  county, 
Ohio,  their  farm  being  about  twelve  miles  from  that  place. 
The  neighbors  in  that  settlement  kindly  consented  to  let  them 
have  the  use  of  their  teams  with  which  to  remove  their  goods  to 
their  farm. 

On  each  of  the  farms  there  was  a  log  cabin.  Each  farm  con- 
tained eighty  acres,  and  our  subject  moved  onto  the  west 
eighty,  of  which  there  was  only  a  few  acres  cleared.  She  had 
no  brothers  to  assist  her  father  in  the  heavy  work,  such  as  choi> 
ping  down  the  heavy  timber,  splitting  rails,  and  clearing  off 
the  land  in  general  to  get  it  ready  for  farming.  Her  father 
knew  very  little  about  farming,  and  as  before  stated  the  cares 
of  the  family  rested  very  lightly  upon  him.  For  this  reason  it 
-was  very  hard  for  them  to  get  along  well.  Worse  than  all, 
everybody  in  the  neighborhood  were  in  about  the  same  condi- 
tion, so  they  could  receive  no  help.  Things  looked  very  dark 
and  gloomy  for  them,  and  especially  just  after  the  close  of  the 
civil  war,  when  prices  on  all  commodities  were  so  high.  There 
was  but  little  land  cleared  in  all  the  neighborhood  on  which  to 
raise  anything  to  sell.  The  only  escape  her  father  had  was  to 
cut  down  his  best  oak  timber  and  saw  it  into  blocks,  in  which 
shape  it  was  sold  for  making  barrels,  kegs  and  other  wood  ves- 
sels.    Many  farmers  did  great  damage  to  their  farms  by  cut- 


22 

ting  their  oak  timber  so  soon.  Many  of  them  had  three  or 
four  boys  and  the  farms  were  cleared  in  a  short  time.  In  the- 
family  of  our  subject,  however,  there  was  no  one  who  understood- 
this  kind  of  work,  her  father  having  been  a  distiller  by  occupa-- 
tion.  We  are  sorry  to  say  that  while  engaged  in  this  sort  of 
work  the  appetite  for  strong  drink  fascinated  him,  and  found 
him  intoxicated  many  times  and  brought  home  in  that  condi-- 
tion.  To  his  credit  be  it  said  that  he  never  abused  his  family,- 
as  is  the  case  with  so  many  drinking  men  while  under  the  in* 
fluence  of  liquor. 

Our  subject  was  compelled  to  take  almost  entire  charge  of 
the  family,  to  be,  so  to  speak,  father,  mother  and  sister  all  at 
the  same  time.  She  would  help  her  father,  who  was  of  a  deli- 
cate constitution,  at  much  of  his  hard  work.  Sometimes  they 
would  hire  a  man  to  help  at  this.  She  would  even  chop  wood, 
and  help  load  it  on  wagons.  This  she  had  to  do  in  order  to 
earn  enough  money  to  procure  the  necessities  of  life.  Many  a, 
time  she  would  be  at  her  wit's  end  to  know  what  to  do  in  order 
to  keep  the  family  from  want,  and  scarcely  knew  what  to  do. 
But  she  knew  there  was  One  who  would  not  forsake  her,  so  she 
called  upon  the  Lord,  who  has  said,  "In  the  days  of  trouble  I 
will  deliver  thee,"  and  we  can  say  that  our  blessed  Lord  did 
help  her  in  the  time  of  need. 


28 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

((?*       (^*       4?* 

FARM  LIFE  CONTINUES. 

The  farm  life  continued  with  increased  trials  and  burdens. 
Her  father  was  at  length  confined  to  his  bed  from  receiving  a 
bad  injury  to  one  of  his  limbs.  He  was  not  able  to  do  any  work 
for  six  months  or  more.  Many  doctors  were  consulted,  but 
none  could  give  him  relief.  The  neighbors  were  very  kind  to 
her,  and  helped  her  in  many  ways  during  her  father's  affliction. 
This  was  a  great  trial  for  her,  one  of  the  greatest  she  was  ever 
called  upon  to  endure,  but  she  did  not  forget  to  cast  her 
burdens  upon  One  who  has  said,  "Cast  all  your  burdens  upon 
Me,  for  I  care  for  you."  There  were  also  many  precious 
promises  in  the  Bible,  such  as:  "I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor 
forsake  thee,"  and  "Call  upon  me  in  the  days  of  trouble  and  I 
will  deliver  thee  in  due  time." 

One  day  a  young  doctor  by  the  name  of  Thomas  was  pass- 
ing through  the  neighborhood.  He  had  the  reputation  of  be- 
ing a  very  skillful  physician,  and  she  went  to  see  him.  She  told 
him  of  the  condition  of  her  father,  and  the  doctor  made  her 
some  salve  and  told  her  how  to  use  it  on  her  father's  limb. 
She  went  home  and  began  to  do  as  the  doctor  had  directed  and 
in  a  short  time  her  father  was  once  more  able  to  breath  fresh 


24 

air,  to  work  and  help  care  for  his  family.  Then  affairs  moved 
along  very  well,  but  in  the  same  old  channel,  and  with  but 
little  prospects  for  improvement  in  the  way  of  monetary  mat- 
ters. Some  of  her  sisters  became  very  much  discouraged  be- 
cause of  the  hard  times  they  had  in  getting  along,  and  three  of 
them  went  back  to  Cincinnati  to  work  hj  the  week,  agreeing  to 
send  money  back  to  assist  in  helping  support  the  rest  of  the 
family.  Thus  was  a  great  strain  lifted  from  the  family,  and  it 
was  a  great  help,  too,  as  the  three  girls  did  as  they  had  agreed. 
Yet  our  subject  had  hard  trials.  She  was  the  life  of  the  family, 
and,  with  all,  the  only  Christian  in  this  large  family  of  girls. 
This  caused  her  to  realize  that  she  must  let  her  light  shine  as 
a  Christian  in  the  home  before  her  sisters  and  father. 

Christianity  had  but  few  adherents  in  the  neighborhood 
surrounding  her  home,  either  among  the  old  or  young.  Her 
mind  would  often  turn  toher  former  experiences  as  a  Christian. 
This  would  cause  her  to  realize  that  she  had  lost  much  of  the 
joy  of  the  Lord  out  of  her  soul.  Often,  when  she  would  go  out 
among  the  young  people  and  see  many  of  them  who  professed 
to  be  Christians  enjoying  themselves  among  the  sinners,  the 
devil  would  tempt  her,  saying:  "  Why  don't  you  enjoy  your- 
self like  the  other  young  people  ;  they  profess  to  be  Christians 
as  well  as  you."  But  she  could  never  do  like  the  rest  of  them, 
for  she  knew  what  great  things  God  had  done  for  her  in  these 
trials  and  temptations,  and  she  called  upon  Him  to  give  her 
grace  so  that  she  might  not  yield  to  the  devil  and  take  part  in 
the  outbroken  sins  like  some  of  the  old  and  young  about  her, 
many  of  whom  professed  to  be  Christians,  but  who  were  merely 
using  Christianity  as  a  cloak  to  protect  them  in  the  service  of 
the  devil.      The   Omnipotent  One    watched    with    His   tender 


25 

mercies  over  her,  and  gave  her  the  utmost  strength  and  grace 
to  endure  such  vital  temptations,  and  to  let  her  light  shine  so 
that  all  men  might  see  her  good  works  in  the  vineyard  of  our 
Lord. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

fe?*  ^*  5i?* 

DEATH    OF    HER    SISTER,    SIDNEY    ANN. 

Our  Savior  said  in  His  blessed  word,  that  in  this  world  ye 
ehall  have  trials  and  tribulations,  but  in  peace.  Sidney  Ann 
went  to  a  neighboring  town  to  work,  where  she  had  been  for 
about  a  month  when  she  caught  a  severe  cold  that  settled  on 
her  lungs.  This  weakened  her  so  that  she  was  unable  to  work, 
and  in  consequence  went  home,  where  she  soon  took  to  her  bed. 
She  was  tenderly  waited  on  and  everything  was  done  that 
might  relieve  her  from  her  sufferings.  But  nothing  did  her 
much  good  and  it  was  thought  that  she  must  die.  Our  subject 
thought  that  her  sister  was  living  a  sinful  life  and  was  not 
prepared  to  meet  her  God.  Sidney  Ann  was  told  that  she 
could  not  recovor,  and  our  subject  earnestly  beseeched  the 
Lord  to  have  mercy  on  her  sister  and  save  her  from  her  sins. 
At  the  same  time  she  told  her  sister  s,he  must  pray  for  herself. 
Our  subject  gave  herself  much  to  prayer.     She  also  called  on 


26 

some  of  the  neighbors  to  come  in  and  help  pray  for  her  sister,, 
that  she  might  awaken  to  a  sense  of  her  lost  condition.  She 
still  continued  to  pray  by  day  and  by  night  that  her  prayers  in 
behalf  of  her  dying  sister  might  be  answered.  The  neighbors- 
called  frequently  and  much  prayer  was  offered  up  to  the  Lord. 
Finally,  her  sister  awoke  and  said  that  she  was  a  lost  soul, 
without  the  blood  of  Jesus  might  be  applied  to  her  heart 
to  wash  away  her  sins  and  cleanse  her  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness. She  then  began  to  pray,  cry  and  scream  for  mercy. 
Our  subject's  faith  was  strengthened  to  see  her  sister  break 
down  and  pray  for  the  Lord  to  forgive  her  and  make  her  pure 
and  holy  before  she  died.  Our  subject  said  that  the  dear  Lord, 
in  His  tender  mercies,  did  come  to  her  sister's  heart,  and  broke 
the  bands  of  unbelief  and  allowed  her  poor  captive  soul  to  go 
free.  At  last  the  cloud  of  darkness  was  dispelled  from  her 
soul,  and  nothing  but  light,  joy  and  gladness  broke  forth  in 
superabundance  from  the  soul  that  once  was  darkened  in  sin,, 
and  now  she  could  sing. 

"On  Christ  the  solid  rock  I  stand, 
All  other  ground  is  sinking  sand." 

Our  subject's  heart  was  made  to  leap  with  joy  and  glad- 
ness when  she  saw  her  sister  so  filled  with  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Though  she  did  not  live  long  to  tell 
the  beautiful  story  of  Christ,  yet  she  lost  no  opportunity  in 
telling  every  one  who  came  to  see  her.  She  lived  only  four 
months  after  she  was  taken  ill.  In  full  triumph  of  living  faith 
she  went  sweeping  through  the  gates  of  that  eternal  city  whose 
streets  are  paved  with  gold,  that  city  where  life  is  everlasting, 
and  where  we   see  our  departed  ones.     Our  subject  was  now 


27 


greatly  encouraged,  more  than  ever  before,  to  live  the  life  of 
the  righteous.  Oh,  what  a  mistake  mankind  is  making  in  de- 
laying to  seek  the  Lord  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls  until 
they  are  upon  the  bed  of  death.  Thousands  and  thousands 
miss  heaven  by  so  doing.  Even  should  any  be  saved  at  that 
late  hour  they  must  go,  as  did  our  sister,  empty  handed  into 
the  presence  of  the  Master,  and  without  a  star  in  their  crowns. 
Oh,  clear  reader,  do  not  wait,  for  the  blessed  word  says:. 
"  To-day  is  the  day  of  salvation,'? 


CHAPTER    X. 

!^*  ^?*  S^* 

SPIRITUAL    CONDITION    OF    PEOPLE    IN    THE    NEIGHBORHOOD. 

The  spiritual  condition  of  the  people  in  the  neighborhood' 
at  that  time  was  very  poor.  There  were  three  churches,  two 
Methodist  and  one  Baptist,  all  situated  very  close  to  each 
other.  The  members  of  these  churches  did  not  think  much 
about  serving  the  Lord.  Most  of  them,  both  old  and  young, 
were  leaders  in  play  parties  that  met  from  house  to  house,  and 
one  devil  could  watch  them,  as  they  were  not  engaged  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord.  The  principal  amusement  at  these  parties 
was  dancing,  and  many  of  the  older  members  would  take  active 
part  with  the  younger  people  in   that  kind  of  sport  and  fun. 


28 

Our  subject  would  sometimes  yield  to  the  temptation  and  go 
and  look  on.  While  she  was  doing  this  the  tempter  would 
whisper  in  her  ear :  "  Why  are  you  looking  so  sanctimonious? 
These  young  people  are  all  Christians,  and  so  are  the  older 
ones.  Why  do  you  not  take  part  with  them?  You  are  no 
better  than  they. "  She  would  answer  within  herself,  that  is 
so.  The  writer  will  say  that  at  times  a  converted  person  will 
be  tempted  to  listen  to  the  tempter  and  desire  worldly  pleas- 
ure. The  devil  will  say  that  it  matters  not.  If  you  have  the 
word  of  God  in  your  heart  that  should  not  keep  3tou  from 
having  a  little  worldly  pleasure.  Other  professors  of  religion 
do  the  very  same  things  and  why  not  you?  There  are  many 
truly  converted  souls  that  have  not  had  the  proper  teaching  in 
the  early  part  of  their  Christian  experience.  They  should  be 
taught  how  to  resist  the  devil  and  keep  from  yielding  to  him, 
and  to  shun  worldly  enjoyments.  But  if  these  rules  are  not 
followed  out  the  Lord  will  depart  from  them,  and,  step  by 
step,  the  adversary  will  lead  them  on  and  on,  testifying  for 
the  Lord  when  they  are  in  utter  darkness,  and  perhaps  have 
been  for  weeks  and  months,  in  their  wild  excitement. 

At  the  dancing  parties  some  of  the  younger  ones  would 
try  to  persuade  our  subject  to  join  them  in  dancing.  When  the 
music  would  start  it  was  a  very  strong  temptation  to  resist 
dancing  after  music  having  been  of  her  greatest  enjoyments  be- 
fore her  conversion.  In  those  moments  of  temptation  the  Lord 
would  give  her  grace  to  resist  the  devil. 

There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  professors  in  the 
churches  to-day  who  take  part  in  worldly  enjoyments,  and 
know  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord.  Many  of  these  were 
once  happily  converted.     The  great  cause   of  so  much   back- 


29 

sliding  is  that  we  have  not  ministers  and  leaders  who  are  living 
up  to  their  professions.  They  have  lost  the  realization  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  and  therefore,  they  can  not  lead  the  young 
souls  into  fountains  of  living  waters.  We  all  know  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  blind  to  lead  the  blind,  as  they  will  both 
fall.  So  both  preacher  and  members  drift  along  the  broad 
path  that  leads  to  death  eternal  night.  Oh,  what  a  fearful  re- 
sponsibility rests  upon  a  pastor  who  says  he  is  called  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  dying  men  and  women.  Oh,  may  the  dear  Lord 
wake  up  these  dead  souls  that  are  sleeping  on  and  will  not  be 
awakened,  because  they  pay  their  pastors  big  salaries  to  let 
them  sleep  on  in  their  sins.  They  think  they  are  saved  because 
they  are  members  of  the  church  and  pay  the  preacher  his  dues. 
But  in  that  great  judgment  day  they  will  hear  the  woeful  cry, 
"Depart  from  Me,  ye  churches,  into  the  lake  of  everlasting 
burning,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 


CHAPTER   XI. 

^*    ^*     t^* 

ANOTHER  SISTER  NIPPED  BY  THE  FROST  OF  TIME. 

It  was  scarcely  a  year  after  the  death  of  Sidney  Ann  before 
another  sister  was  taken  with  the  same  complaint.  A  heavy 
cold  settled  on  her  lungs  and  nothing  could  be  done  for  her,  as 


80 

:  it  speedily  developed  into  quick  consumption,  which  dreadful 
disease  can  not  be  cured.  Sarah,  like  the  other  sister,  had  no' 
hope  in  Christ,  and  now,  upon  her  dying  bed,  must  seek  salva- 
tion for  her  poor  immortal  soul,  at  an  hour  almost  too  late.. 
Our  subject  saw  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  so,  as  hereto- 
fore, she  prayed  that  God  might  save  her  sister,  as  it  would  not 
do  for  her  to  pass  away  without  eternal  life.  The  sister,  like 
the  other  one,  was  hard  to  believe,  but  finally  she  gave  up  all 
to  him  who  has  said:  "Son,  or  daughter,  the  day  thou  givest 
Me  thine  heart  I  will  be  fond  of  thee,"  and,  with  one  mighty 
act  of  living  faith  in  the  all-obtaining  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
the  great  burden  of  sin  was  rolled  from  her  heart  and  her  soul 
was  filled  with  joy  and  peace.  She  died  shortly  after  her  con- 
version in  the  full  triumph  of  living  faith,  but  met  her  Savior 
empty  handed.  Oh,  how  good  and  blessed  is  the  Lord  Jesus, 
who  allows  us  to  live  through  all  our  sins  and  when  the  time 
arrives  for  us  to  die  saves  us  from  our  iniquities.  This  is  evi- 
dence that  God  has  promised  to  answer  the  prayers  of  His  dear 
children  who  pray  to  Him  by  day  and  by  night.  It  is  wonder- 
ful how  God  allows  mankind  to  live  in  their  sins,  until  death 
stares  them  in  the  face,  and  then  saves  them. 

To  all  those  who  may  read  this  book,  the  writer  wishes  to 
say:  Do  not  do  as  this  young  woman  did.  The  devil  will  no 
doubt  try  you  while  you  are  reading  this  book,  and  whisper  to 
you  that  you  ■  can  be  converted  on  your  death  bed,  but  the 
blessed  book  says  :  "To-day  is  the  day  of  salvation."  See  at 
once,  dear  reader,  that  the  word  of  your  God  does  not  come  into 
contact  with  the  evil  suggestings  of  the  devil.  The  devil  sug- 
gests to  thousands  that  they  wait  until  they  are  on  a  sick  bed 
before  seeking  the  Lord.     He  also  suggests  the  same  thing  to 


31 

many  believers,  telling  them  that  they  need  not  pray  and  talk 
•so  much  about  living  a  holy  life,  as  there  will  be  plenty  of  time 
to  attend  to  that  after  they  are  taken  down  sick.  Thousands 
of  poor  souls  are  thus  deceived  and  take  refuge  in  the  devil. 
Often  their  lives  are  cut  off  without  warning,  and  many  are 
thus  cast  into  the  lake  of  everlasting  fire.  Oh,  may  our  blessed 
Lord  assist  the  millions  of  souls  who  are  waiting  for  repentance 
upon  the  death  bed  to  make  up  their  minds  at  once  to  serve 
Him. 

Our  subject  lifted  up  her  heart  in  praise  unto  the  Lord  for 
helping  her  to  bear  up  under  the  great  trial  of  burying  two  of 
her  sisters  within  one  year.  With  all  the  care  of  the  family 
bearing  heavily  upon  her,  the  Lord  lent  her  a  helping  hand,  and 
gave  her  strength  to  endure  the  trials.  While  living  in  the 
country  our  subject  became  quite  familiar  with  the  ways  of  the 
Northern  people.  She  found  great  difference  between  them  and 
the  slaves  in  the  South.  The  slaves  had  no  work  to  manage  or 
plan  for.  There  was  always  some  one  to  do  the  planning  and 
buying  and  selling  for  them.  In  the  North  she  had  all  this  to 
•do  for  herself,  in  addition  to  the  care  of  the  family.  Her 
father  cared  very  little  about  business,  and  he  would  allow  some 
of  the  neighbors  to  take  advantage  of  him.  He  was  kind- 
hearted  and  would  not  have  trouble  with  anyone,  even  if  he 
was  getting  the  worst  of  the  bargain.  So  our  subject  had  to 
spend  most  of  her  time  in  transacting  the  business  of  the  farm. 
Her  father  thought  every  one  was  honest  like  himself.  He  al- 
ways carried  the  motto,  "Honesty  is  the  best  policy,"  stamped 
in  his  heart.  At  one  time  he  was  swindled  very  badly  by  one 
■of  his  neighbors,  a  man  that  owned  a  saw  mill,  and  who  was 
■buying  all  the  timber  he  could  get,  especially  oak  and  walnut, 


32 

which  were  very  valuable  and  commanded  a  high  price.  This 
mill  owner  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  very  dishonest  man, 
and  would  get  the  better  of  all  who  transacted  business  with 
him  if  possible,  and  her  father  was  no  exception.  He  hauled 
timber  enough  to  build  a  new  house,  and  when  he  went  for  the 
lumber  prepared  from  his  logs  he  found  that  the  mill  owner  had 
exchanged  poor  lumber  for  the  fine  logs  he  had  taken  there. 
When  our  subject  saw  how  her  father  had  been  swindled,  she 
resolved  that  it  was  to  the  interest  of  the  family  for  her  to  take 
more  interest  in  the  buying  and  selling. 


CHAPTER     XII. 

(<?*        (<?*        t£& 

OUR    SUBJECT    LEAVES   HOME    TO   WORK. 

Finally  the  family  became  so  greatly  in  need  of  clothing 
that  it  became  necessary  for  our  subject  to  go  from  home  to 
work  and  earn  money.  Some  of  the  other  sisters  had  worked 
away  from  home,  but  they  did  not  help  the  family  as  much  as 
they  should  have  done.  They  had  the  interests  of  the  family 
very  little  at  heart,  and  spent  their  money  on  themselves.  So 
there  was  no  way  for  her  to  do  but  to  earn  the  needed  money. 
There  was  no  place  in  the  neighborhood  to  work,  as  the  settlers 
were  all  poor  like  herself.      She  told  her  father  that  she  must 


33 

go  to  some  town  to  earn  money  to  buy  them  some  clothing, 
as  their  supply  was  nearly  gone.  Her  father  said  he  did  not 
see  how  he  could  get  along  without  her.  But  she  told  him  that 
she  must  go,  as  he  could  get  but  very  little  work  to  do.  After 
making  all  necessary  preparations,  in  company  with  her  sister 
Charlotte  and  a  cousin,  she  was  soon  on  her  way  to  Lima, 
Ohio,  about  forty  miles  from  home.  They  had  to  work  most 
all  the  way.  as  they  had  no  money.  They  had  taken  only  a 
few  things  with  them.  It  was  a  long  journey  for  these  three 
young  women  to  make  without  any  one  to  accompany  and 
guide  them.  Our  subject  knew  something  about  the  help  of 
the  Lord,  therefore  she  trusted  in  Him  to  protect  her  from  any 
harm  or  danger.  They  were  very  prosperous  in  their  first  day's 
journey,  and  after  walking  thirty  miles,  a  kind  friend  took 
them  in,  gave  them  plenty  to  eat  and  shelter  for  the  night. 
The  next  morning  they  were  very  much  refreshed,  but  did  not 
get  a  very  early  start,  as  they  had  only  a  little  over  twelve 
miles  to  go. 

They  arrived  in  Lima  early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second 

day,  and  found  a  stopping  place  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  , 

who  was  kind  enough  to  keep  them  two  or  three  days  until 
they  could  find  places  to  work.  Within  a  week  her  sister 
found  a  place  in  a  private  family,  as  did  her  cousin  also.  As 
for  herself,  Mrs.  thought  she  could  earn  more  in  work- 
ing by  the  day,  so,  making  Mrs.  's  house  her  headquarters, 

assisting  her  when  she  had  no  work  elsewhere,  she  did  a  great 

deal  of  work  for  other  people.     She  stayed  with  Mrs.  

a. long  time,  but  at  length  she  discovered  that  Mrs. did 

not  do  right.  Many  things  caused  her  pain,  but  she  bore  it  as 
long  as  she  thought  best.     She  found  out  so  many  tricks  this 


34 

woman  was  capable  of  and  yet  she  claimed  to  be  a  member  of 
the  church.      An   instance   of  the  manner  in  which  she  was 

treated.     At  one  time  Mrs. concealed  a  silver  thimble 

and  charged  her  with  stealing  it.  This  seemed  to  be  a  very- 
severe  charge  to  make  against. one  who  was  a  perfect  stranger, 
and  it  was  all  she  could  do  to  endure  it.  She  was  conscious  of 
the  fact,  however,  that  her  God  knew  she  was  not  a  thief.    She 

assisted  Mrs. in  searching  all  over  the  house  for  the  lost 

thimble,  but  it  could   not  be  found]  at  length   she  told  Mrs. 

that  she  would  pay  for  it,  but  she  answered  she  was  not 

worrying  about  her  paying  for  it,  but  the  trouble  was  to  clear 
herself  of  the  charge  of  theft.  She  was  at  her  wit's  end,  but 
remembering  the  words  of  her  blessed  Master,  "  Call  upon  Me 
in  the  days  of  thy  trouble,  and  I  will  deliver  thee,"  she  decided 

to  bide  her  time.     She  paid  Mrs. for  the  thimble.    Not 

long  afterwards  she  was  sweeping  and  dusting  two  or  three 
rooms  in  the  house,  and  while  placing  everything  in  its  proper 

place  she  found  the  thimble.     She  called  Mrs.  and  told 

her  that  she  had  found  the  lost  thimble,  but  received  the  reply 
that  she  was  the  possessor  of  two  thimbles.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  a  minister  was  boarding  at  the  house.  He  over- 
heard   the  conversation,    and,   stepping  into    the  room,    told 

Mrs. that  he  had  heard  her  accuse  several  other  girls  in 

regard  to  that  thimble.  He  then  spoke  to  her  of  the  way  she 
was  treating  our  subject  by  accusing  her  of  stealing.  At  this 
Mrs. cried  and  went  out  of  the  room,  leaving  our  sub- 
ject to  finish  her  work  of  cleaning  the  house.  She  felt  in  her 
heart  that  she  was  cleared  of  the  charge  of  stealing  the  thimble, 
and  that  it  was  through  the  help  of  the  dear  Lord  that  her  de- 
liverance had  come.     It  is  a  very  distressing  thing  to  be  caught 


35 

in  a  lie.      Afterward,  Mrs. 's  next  door  neighbor  told 

how  she  had  told  lies   about  her,  and  about  the  minister  also, 

;and  of  the  things  Mrs.  had  stolen  from  her  boarders  and 

other  people  who  came  about  the  house. 

Our  subject  did  not  have  any  confidence  in  Mrs.  as 

one  claiming  to  be  a  Christian.     Though   acquainted  with  the 

character  of  Mrs.  our  subject  still  remained  in  her  house. 

Soon  after  the  trouble  about  the  thimble  a  lady  wanted  our 
subject  to  do  some  work  for  her.  Not  having  the  money  to 
pay  she  offered  a  good  second  hand  carpet  in  payment.  Our 
subject  agreed  to  do  the  work  for  the  carpet.  It  was  a  rag 
carpet  and  would  be  of  good  service  on  the  farm.     While  our 

subject  was  working  for  another  lady,  Mrs.  ,    who  was 

acquainted  with  the  lady  that  had  the  carpet,  told  her  that  she 
would  do  the  work  and  take  the  carpet  as  pay,  but  the  lady 
answered  that  she  had  engaged  Mary  Taylor   to   do  the  work. 

Mrs. stated  that  Mary  Taylor  did  not  want  the  carpet. 

The  lady  did  not  know  what  to   think  about   Mrs.   's 

statement,  as  there  had  been  no  time  set  when  our  subject 
should  do  the  work.  The  lady  did  not  know  what  to  do,  so 
she  said :  "If  Mary  does  not  want  the  carpet  you  may  do  the 
work,"  and  adding,  "but  I  do  not  know  why  Mary  should 
change  her  mind  in  regard  to  it.'.'  The  lady  felt  that  some- 
thing was  wrong,  but  allowed  Mrs. to  do  the  work,  and 

our  subject  had  no  kn'owledge  that  it  had  been  performed.  At 
length,  having  some  spare  time  she  decided  to  do  the  work  and 
get  the  carpet.  She  arrived  at  the  house  and  was  much  sur- 
prised when  the  lady  told  her  that  she  had  been  told  that  she 
•did  not  want  the  carpet.  Our  subject  asked  the  name  of  the 
party  who  made  the  statement  and  was  told  that  it  was  Mrs. 


86 

.      She   answered   that    she  had  never    spoken   to   Mrs. 

about  the  carpet.     When  she  asked  Mrs.  about 

the  matter  she  answered  that  she  did  not  think  our  subject  had 
any  use  for  the  carpet.     She  refused  to  have  any  trouble  about 

the  carpet  but  now    saw  how    Mrs. had  told  another 

falsehood  to  cheat  her  out  of  the  carpet.  All  her  troubles 
proved  to  be  a  blessing,  however,  to  her  as  a  follower  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  who  said  in  His  blessed  word  that  "All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  wTho  love  and  serve  Him."    She 

now  saw  that  it  was  not  best  to  stay  longer  with  Mrs.  . 

She  found  another  home  with  a  near  neighbor  by  the  name  of 
Mrs.  Harris,  who  was  very  kind  to  her  and  permitted  her  to 
make  the  house  her  home  while  she  worked  out  by  the  day. 
She  only  remained  here  long  enough  to  fulfill  all  her  engage- 
ments, when  she  began  to  prepare  to  return  home.  Her  stay 
in  Lima  had  been  quite  profitable,  and  in  addition  to  a  nice 
little  sum  of  money,  she  carried  with  her  a  number  of  articles 
of  clothing  and  household  goods  received  in  exchange  for  her 
labor, "for  all  of  which  she  returned  thanks  to  our  dear  Lord  for 
His  love  and  kindness  toward  her. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

5^*       C^*        t^* 

She  arrived  at  her  home  and  found  her  father  and  sisters 


37 

all  very  well.  As  soon  as  she  had  rested  she  began  to  look  after 
the  work,  as  usual,  both  in  the  house  and  on  the  farm.  Every- 
thing was  now  moving  along  very  well.  The  money  she  had 
earned  while  away  from  home  was  of  great  use  to  her  father 
and  sisters.  It  may  now  be  seen  more  than  ever  the  great  part 
she  took  in  managing  the  family  affairs.  Indeed  her  share  was 
greater  than  the  work  performed  by  her  mother,  who  had  only 
a  family  and  a  house  to  look  after,  while  she  not  only  filled  her 
mother's  place  in  the  home,  but  her  father's  place  on  the  farm, 
also.  At  this  time  she  was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age  and 
was  strong  and  usually  had  good  health. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

(^*      X£&      5^* 

ANOTHER  SISTER  NIPPED  BY  THE  FROST  OF  TIME. 

About  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  death  of  her  sister  Sarah, 
another  sister,  Martha,  was  taken  sick  very  suddenly  with  a 
heavy  cold,  like  her  other  two  sisters.  They  began  at  once  to 
give  Martha  treatment,  and  in  four  or  five  weeks  she  began  to 
grow  better  and  continued  to  improve  until  she  was  able  to  go 
about  the  house.  Our  subject  thought  she  was  so  much  better 
that  it  would  be  safe  to  leave  her  in  the  care  of  her  father  and 
other  sisters,  as  she  had  some  work  that  called  her  away  from 


38 

home.  She  told  her  father  that  while  she  was  gone  he  must 
take  good  care  of  Martha,  and  not  allow  her  to  go  out  of  doors. 
After  our  subject  had  gone  Martha  continued  to  feel  better  and 
was  getting  along  nicely.  While  she  was  away  Martha  con- 
cluded she  felt  well  enough  to  go  to  a  party,  and  decided  to  at- 
tend one  given  in  the  neighborhood.  Our  subject  did  not  want 
Martha  to  go,  fearing  that  she  might  take  cold,  but  Martha, 
like  all  young  girls,  who  are  not  truly  Christians,  love  to  go 
where  there  is  fun  and  frolic,  no  matter  what  anyone  might  say. 
In  going  and  coming  from  the  party  she  got  her  feet  wet  and 
was  again  taken  down  sick.  Everything  was  done  to  save  her, 
but  to  no  avail  and  she  must  die,  praying  on  her  death  bed  and 
with  no  hope  for  eternal  life.  Our  subject  remembered  the 
words  of  the  thief  on  the  cross:  "Lord,  when  Thou  comest 
into  Thy  kingdom,  remember  me."  The  Lord  said:  "This 
day  thou  shalt  be  with  Me."  She  told  Martha  that  she  must 
pray  and  call  on  the  Lord  to  have  mercy,  and  she  sang  and 
prayed  with  her  sister,  for  she  knew  the  Lord  would  hear  and 
answer  prayer.  She  had  prevailed  with  God  in  prayer  for  her 
other  sisters.  She  called  in  a  few  of  the  neighbors  to  sing  and 
pray  with  her  for  the  conversion  of  her  sister.  They  had  a  good 
meeting,  and  when  Martha  was  in  earnest  prayer  the  neighbors 
returned  home.  Our  subject  continued  praying  for  her  sister 
for  several  days  and  nights,  and  one  day  while  she  was  singing 
one  of  her  favorite  hymns  Martha  was  earnestly  pleading  with 
the  Lord  to  have  mercy  upon  her  and  forgive  her  of  all  her 
sins.  Our  subject  continued  singing  the  hymn  and  suddenly 
Martha  let  go  of  all  the  things  of  time  and  by  faith  took  hold 
of  the  promise  of  God,  which  says  :  "Thy  sins  which  are  many 
are   all  forgiven  thee."     She  felt  that  the  great  burden  of  sin 


39 

had  rolled  away  and  her  soul  was  rilled  with  light,  peace,  joy 
and  gladness.  She  said  in  a  loud  voice :  "0,  praise  the  Lord 
for  the  jo}r  and  peace  which  now  fills  my  soul."  Her  father 
said,  "Francis  you  are  getting  that  girl  excited,"  but  Martha 
said,  "0,  no,  father,  I  am  not  excited,  the  Lord  has  forgiven 
me  of  my  sins."  Our  subject  and  Martha  then  had  a  good  time 
praising  the  Lord.  Martha  only  lived  a  short  time  afterward, 
but  she  spent  most  of  the  time  exhorting  and  warning  others 
not  to  do  as  she  had  done.  She  died  in  full  faith,  and  went 
sweeping  through  the  open  gate  into  that  eternal  city.  But  she 
went  empty  handed,  as  thousands  of  other  people  are  going 
every  day.  The  writer  warns  the  reader,  "Do  not  wait  for  to- 
morrow," for  the  Lord  says:  "Behold  this  day  is  the  day  of 
salvation."  Our  subject  was  now  more  than  ever  encouraged 
to  press  on  in  the  Christian  life,  so  helpful  in  the  presence  of 
sickness  and  death. 


CHAPTER   XV 

*£&       !£&       %C& 


There  was  a  great  revival  in  the  neighborhood,  and  all  the 
churches  and  the  three  churches  in  the  vicinity  united  in 
union  meetings.  Meetings  were  held  first  in  the  A.  M.  E. 
and  then  in  the  Baptist  church.  The  meeting  commenced  in 
November,  1866  and  closed  in  June,  1867.     It  was  the  greatest 


40 

revival  ever  held  in  that  part  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  before  or 
since  that  time.  A  great  number  were  converted  during  the 
continuation  of  the  meeting,  and  many  were  called  to  preach 
the  gospel.  Some  people  who  did  not  take  part  in  the  meeting 
predicted  that  the  corn  crop  would  be  small,  because  the  great- 
er number  of  the  people  were  constant  in  their  attendance  at 
the  meeting.  But,  to  their  astonishment,  there  were  better 
crops  that  year  than  ever  before.  The  writer  adds:  "When 
people  serve  the  Lord  everything. goes  well." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

&  3  <£ 

The  writer  became  acquainted  with  the  Taylor  family  in  the 
year  1865.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  I  came  home  from  the  army 
to  Cincinnati,  then  my  home,  and  became  acquainted  with 
three  of  the  sisters,  two  of  whom  were  single,  the  other  being 
married.  The  married  sister  lived  in  the  same  house  where  I 
was  stopping.  The  family  with  whom  I  was  boarding  occupy- 
ing a  portion  of  the  house.  The  two  single  sisters  came  to  visit 
with  their  married  sister.  The  younger  of  the  unmarried 
sisters  I  only  met  a  few  times,  but  myself  and  the  other  two 
soon  became  great  friends.  At  that  time  I  had  no  thought  of 
getting  married.  But  about  six  months  after  the  younger  of  the 
sisters  mentioned  above  had  returned  to  her  home  in  Mercer 


41 

county,  I  wrote  her  a  letter,  asking  the  privilege  of  writing  to 
her  as  a  friend,  merely  to  pass  away  the  time.  She  gave  her 
consent  and  a  correspondence  was  kept  up  for  about  nine 
months.  During  that  time  I  sent  her  one  of  my  pictures.  I 
did  not  say  anything  about  marrying,  and  in  a  short  time  we 
stopped  writing  to  each  other.  I  remained  in  Cincinnati  for 
about  one  year,  when  my  health  became  impaired  by  reason  of 
attendance  on  a  sick  man.  The  doctor  said  that  I  had  better 
go  west.  I  waited  for  three  months  and  not  getting  any  better, 
in  the  spring  of  1867, 1  went  to  the  southwestern  part  of  Michi- 
gan. I  left  Cincinnati  on  the  first  day  of  April  and  arrived  at 
Cassapolis  next  day.  I  had  to  go  about  eight  miles  into  the 
country  to  the  home  of  an  old  army  friend,  where  I  was  kindly 
welcomed.  We  were  both  very  glad  to  meet  again.  Good 
farm  hands  were  worth  from  $20  to  $25  per  month,  but  I  was 
not  experienced  in  farm  work.  After  having  had  a  good  visit, 
my  old  friend,  Joseph  Cross,  said  that  he  had  bought  forty 
acres  of  land  in  the  woods,  and  that  he  had  sold  one  hundred 
cords  of  wood  to  a  man  who  owned  a  woolen  mill  near  the  west 
end  of  his  land.  He  said  he  would  give  me  work  of  chopping 
the  wood  if  I  cared  to  do  so.  I  had  done  but  little  chopping, 
but  he  offered  me  eighty-seven  and  a  half  cents  per  cord,  and  I 
accepted  his  offer.  I  began  the  work  about  the  middle  of  April 
and  finished  it  the  last  of  June.  I  remained  in  the  neighbor- 
hood a  few  days  afterwards  and  then  took  my  departure  for 
Chicago.  I  was  not  there  long  before  hearing  that  the  captain 
of  my  company  was  in  the  city.  I  hunted  him  up, and  he  was  very 
glad  to  see  me.  I  was  there  a  week  before  securing  any  work. 
At  length  I  secured  a  place  to  work  in  a  livery  stable.  I  did 
not  like  that  kind  of  employment  and  only  remained  there  two 
months,  when  I  secured   a  place   to  work  in  a  private  family. 


42 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

&?•       t&*t       t&* 

My  first  letter  of  friendship  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  dated  August  1st,  1867.  We  had  never  seen  each  other, 
but  we  continued  to  write  during  the  entire  time  I  remained  in 
Chicago.  In  1868  I  left  Chicago  and  went  to  Mendota,  111., 
where  an  old  army  comrade  lived,  whom  I  had  not  seen  since 
we  were  mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Detroit  in  October, 
1865.  I  visited  with  him  until  March,  and  when  the  spring 
work  began  to  open  up,  my  friend  Hunter  said  he  would  assist 
me  in  finding  some  work.  Hearing  of  a  lady  by  the  name  of 
Mrs.  Dr.  Tud,  who  owned  a  farm  about  one  mile  out  of  the 
city,  and  that  she  wished  to  hire  a  man  to  work  for  nine 
months,  Mr.  Hunter  went  to  see  her  with  me.  I  was  fortunate 
in  securing  the  position  for  nine  months  at  twenty  dollars  a 
month.  I  commenced  work  on  the  15th  of  March  and  worked 
until  October  15th,  at  which  time  my  contract  expired.  She 
paid  me  and  I  then  made  my  home  at  an  aunt  of  Mr.  Hunter's. 
She  had  no  children,  was  a  good  Christian  woman,  and  I  had  a 
nice  home  with  her.  Her  husband  was  not  a  Christian,  and 
neither  was  I,  though  I  had  not  many  bad  habits,  such-  as- 
drinking  strong  drinks,  swearing,  smoking  cigars,  chewing  to- 
bacco, and  keeping  company  with  vile  young  people.  But  after 
all  I  knew  I  was  a  sinner  and  in  order  to  become  a  Christian  I 


43 

must  be  converted.     The   Bible  says  every  one  must   be   born- 
again,  or  they  cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  woman  with  whom  I  was  boarding  was  a  great  help  to 
me.  Before  I  had  seen  her  she  had  written  Christian  letters  to 
Mr.  Hunter  and  myself,  while  we  were  together  in  the  same 
company  on  the  field  of  battle  and  sleeping  together  in  the 
same  tent.  I  then  began  to  think  that  I  ought  to  become  a 
Christian.  There  were  only  thirty  or  forty  colored  people,  of 
whom  part  were  Methodists  and  part  Baptists.  The  latter  had 
a  house  of  worship,  while  the  Methodists  met  in  a  little  school 
house.  In  the  early  part  of  January,  1868,  the  Methodists- 
held  a  revival  in  their  regular  plaee  of  meeting — the  school 
house.  They  invited  the  Baptists  to  come  in  with  them  and 
hold  union  meetings.  The  meetings  were  held  two  weeks,  with 
only  one  conversion.  I  was  the  one  convert,  for  I  had  been 
seeking  religion  for  a  long  time  before  their  meeting  began.  I 
shall  praise  through  all  eternity  for  the  pardon  of  my  sins.  I 
had  a  terrible  struggle  to  get  loose  from  the  devil,  because  I 
was  so  full  of  unbelief,  but  one  mighty  look  by  faith  to  the 
all-atoning  blood  of  Jesus,  and  the  power  of  sin  was  broken 
and  my  captive  soul  set  free.  Oh!  what  joy  and  peace  and 
gladness  filled  my  soul.  I  know  what  it  is  to  have  the  light  of 
God  in  my  soul.  Before  I  was  converted  I  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  the  Bible,  and  I  could  not  read  it.  I  began  the 
Christian  life  without  any  knowledge  of  reading  God's  word. 
My  great  desire  was  to  have  a  Bible  and  learn  to  read  it.  I 
went  to  see  Mrs.  Tud,  and  told  her  what  the  Lord  had  done  for 
me  and  how  glad  I  would  be  to  learn  to  read  the  Bible.  She 
said  she  was  a  member  of  the  Bible  society,  and  she  would  give 
me  a  Bible.     She  gave  me  a  large  sized  one,  and  I  began   to 


44 

spell  the  words  and  read  as  well  as  I  could  as  I  advanced  in 
Christian  life.  I  became  more  and  more  hungry  for  Bible 
knowledge.  I  can  truly  say  it  was  a  wonder  to  me  how  the 
Lord  helped  me  and  opened  my  understanding  to  read  His 
blessed  word. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

e<?*        w&        t&& 

COURTSHIP    AND    MARRIAGE. 

My  first  letter  of  courtship  to  our  subject  was  accepted. 
Our  marriage  was  very  strange  indeed,  and  a  surprise  to  both 
of  us.  There  had  been  but  little  courting,  and  that  had  been 
done  by  correspondence.  There  was  no  positive  engagement, 
nor  was  there  any  date  fixed  for  our  marriage.  I  do  say  to  the 
readers  of  this  narrative,  who  believe  in  the  Lord  and  His  guid- 
ance and  who  love  and  serve  Him  in  all  things,  that  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  was  in  this  marriage.  I  wrote  my  last  letter  to 
her,  stating  that  I  would  be  at  home  in  the  fall,  accordiug  to 
my  promise.  I  left  Mendota  in  October  on  the  C,  B.  &  Q. 
railroad.  I  arrived  in  Chicago  and  remained  there  twenty-four 
hours,  leaving  there  on  the  Michigan  Central  railroad  for  De- 
troit. From  there  I  went  to  Toledo  and  then  to  Lima,  where 
I  found  the  two  sisters  I  had   met  four  years   previously  while 


45 

they  were  living  in  Cincinnati.  The  next  day  I  wrote  a 
a  few  lines  to  our  subject,  stating  that  I  was  in  Lima  and 
would  wait  to  hear  from  her  before  leaving.  In  two  weeks  I 
received  a  letter  from  her  saying  that  she  would  send  a  friend 
to  meet  me  at  New  Bremen,  providing  I  would  write  and  let  her 
know  what  day  I  would  leave  Lima.  As  soon  as  I  received  the 
letter  I  read  and  answered  it  at  once,  telling  her  on  what  day 
I  would  leave.  In  a  day  or  two  I  began  to  prepare  to  start, 
and  on  the  16th  day  of  November,  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  ar- 
rived in  New  Bremen.  The  friend  was  there  to  meet  me.  He 
introduced  himself  as  Mr.  Clark,  and  told  me  he  had  twelve 
miles  to  drive.  I  told  him  I  had  a  trunk  at  the  hotel.  Hitch- 
ing^bis  horse  to  the  wagon  he  drove  after  it.  It  was  about  four 
o'clock  before  we  started.  Mr.  Clark  had  a  good  team  of  horses 
and  by  half  past  seven  we  were  at  his  home.  Mr.  Clark's 
grandson  took  charge  of  the  team  and  we  went  to  into  the 
house,  where  arrangements  had  been  made  for  me  to  stay  over 
night.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  were  our  subject's  best  friends  in 
the  neighborhood.  After. a  good  night's  rest  and  a  good  break- 
fast and  dinner  the  next  day  we  started  for  the  home  of  our 
subject,  which  was  a  mile  distant.  When  we  arrived  our  sub- 
ject was  not  at  home.  She  was  just  across  the  field  at  her 
aunt's,  but  saw  us  coming  and  returned  at  once.  Mr.  Clark 
introduced  me  to  her,  for  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen 
her.  I  had  not  even  seen  her  picture,  but  she  had  seen  one  of 
mine.  Mr.  Clark  returned  to  his  home  and  we  spent  a  pleas- 
ant afternoon  together.  Toward  the  close  I  asked  her  a  direct 
question — was  she  ready  to  marry  me?  She  said  yes.  I  asked 
her  when  and  she  said,  "  to-morrow  night."  She  said  that  Mr. 
Clark  would  take  me  to  Celina  to  get  the  license.     I  bade  her 


46 

good  afternoon.  As  I  left  the  house  I  met  hor  father  and 
introduced  myself  to  him.  He  said  he  had  heard  his  children 
talking  about  me.  I  asked  him  about  marrying  his  daughter. 
He  said  he  had  no  objections,  so  that  everything  was  all  right. 
Early  next  morning  Mr.  Clark  started  for  Celina,  accompanied 
by  myself,  to  get  the  license. 

We  returned  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  whole  affair  had 
been  kept  secret,  none  but  Mr.  Clark  and  his  family  knowing 
of  it  until  we  returned  with  the  license,  when  several  friends 
and  neighbors  were  invited  to  attend  the  wedding.  At  about 
eight  o'clock  the  same  evening  we  were  united  in  marriage.  It 
was  the  greatest  surprise  that  ever  happened  in  that  neigbor- 
hood.  I  wish  to  add  that  had  I  gone  to  see  my  wife  every  day 
for  five  years  before  our  marriage  I  could  not  have  succeeded  in 
getting  a  better  one.  Neither  would  an  engagement  of  six 
months  duration  added  to  her  good  qualities.  Were  she  alive 
I  feel  sure  she  would  make  the  samestatement  regarding  me  as 
her  husband.  I  can  truly  say  that  our  married  life  was  a  happy 
one,  as  both  of  us  were  Christians — not  formal  church  mem- 
bers, as  are  many  of  to-day  who  simply  join  the  church  with- 
out experiencing  conversion.  This  was  not  so  with  us.  My 
wife  was  converted  when  she  was  about  fifteen  years  old  and 
my  conversion  occurred  about  a  year  before  our  marriage. 
Thus,  we  were  prepared  to  make  each  other  happy,  not  only  in 
this  life,  but  to  help  each  other  live  the  life  of  the  righteous. 
It  has  been  said:  "True  happiness  does  not  consist  of  the 
things  on  this  world,  but  in  the  meek  and  quiet  spirit  which 
should  dwell  in  the  soul  of  every  true  Christian,  which  is  true 
happiness." 


47 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

((?*    (^*     *^* 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  gave  us  a  very  fine  wedding  supper. 
Mrs.  Clark  did  the  cooking,  and  she  was  an  expert.  A  large 
number  of  guests  were  there,  both  married  people  and  single. 
All  who  were  invited  came,  and  everything  was  favorable  to  a 
pleasant  occasion.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of 
November,  and  the  evening  was  very  nice,  just  cool  enough  to 
make  it  pleasant.  All  came  early  in  order  that  a  social  talk 
might  be  had  before  supper.  Of  course  the  bride  was  the  topic 
of  conversation  during  the  evening,  although  the  groom  came 
in  for  his  full  share.  Mrs.  Clark  sent  word  that  supper  was 
ready,  and  as  many  as  were  required  to  fill  the  first  table  quick- 
ly responded.  The  bride  and  groom  occupied  seats  of  honor  at 
the  head  of  the  table.  The  table  was  spread  with  everything 
good  to  eat,  and  plenty 'for  all.  Soon  after  supper  many  re- 
turned home,  wishing  the  bride  and  groom  all  possible  success 
in  life.  After  all  had  returned  we  remained  a  short  time  with 
Mrs.  Clark.  About  eleven  o'clock  we  returned  home,  and  the 
wedding  festivities  were  at  an  end. 

We  were  soon  to  be  left  alone,  as  all  of  my  wife's  sisters 
had  left  home  and  her  father  was  preparing  to  return  to  Ken- 
tucky. We  talked  and  planned  for  the  future,  and  debated 
whether  it  would  be  best  to  remain  on  the  farm  or  not.     Each 


48 

of  the  sisters  had  equal  shares  in  the  farm,  and  the  property 
was  in  bad  condition.  There  was  only  one  horse  and  it  was 
not  suitable  for  the  work  required,  and  there  was  very  little 
else  to  do  with.  There  was  no  grain  for  seed  and  a  very  little  for 
bread.  Only  twenty-five  acres  of  the  farm  had  been  cleared, 
and  the  only  thing  on  the  farm  that  gave  any  promise  of  pros- 
perity were  two  milch  cows.  There  was  no  encouragement 
to  remain.  After  considering  everything  I  told  my  wife 
that  it  was  useless  to  invest  any  money  in  the  farm,  for 
if  we  did  we  might  have  trouble  with  the  other  girls  and 
their  husbands,  and  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to 
leave.  She  did  not  want  to  do  this,  but  I  insisted  that 
it  was  the  only  thing  for  us  to  do,  and  then  the  matter 
was  dropped.  Often  afterwards  the  question  as  to  what  was 
best  to  do  came  up  for  discussion.  At  last  she  said  if  a  farm 
could  be  bought  near  Lima  she  would  consent  to  go  to  it.  I 
then  wrote  to  her  cousin  at  Lima  to  find  out  if  there  were  any 
farms  near  Lima  that  could  be  rented,  and  soon  received  an 
answer  that  there  was  no  farms  to  rent.  That  settled  the 
question  of  renting  a  farm.  All  her  neighbors  constantly  ad- 
vised her  not  to  move  from  the  farm.  I  did  not  say  any  more 
concerning  it  for  some  time.  Presently  her  two  brother-in- 
laws  came  to  visit  us.  They  said  they  had  been  told  that  there 
was  a  large  amount  of  stuff  on  the  farm,  such  as  cattle,  sheep, 
corn,  wheat,  fodder  and  hay,  but  she  told  them  there  was 
scarcely  anything.  They  insisted  on  my  wife  telling  them  just 
what  there  was,  and  she  did  so,  as  follows :  Two  cows,  ten 
bushels  of  corn,  ten  bushels  of  wheat,  no  oats,  twelve  shocks  of 
fodder  and  two  and  one-half  tons  of  hay.  After  she  had  made 
her  report,  the  two  men  discussed  it,  and  one  told  her  it  ought  to 


49 

be  divided,  but  the  other  thought  not,  and  the  two  men  came 
very  near  quarreling  over  it.  They  remained  with  us  for  two 
days  and  one  night,  and  then  returned  to  their  homes  without 
having  decided  about  the  division  of  the  farm.  A  few  days 
after  they  had  been  gone  my  wife  remarked  to  me  that  now  it 
would  be  better  for  us  to  leave  the  farm,  and  we  decided  to  re- 
move to  Lima.  It  was  about  the  middle  of  January  when  the 
brother-in-laws  came  out  to  see  us.  In  a  short  time  we  began 
to  prepare  to  move  to  Lima.  After  everything  had  been  packed 
we  spent  a  week  in  making  farewell  visits  to  the  neighbors. 
Everybody  was  sorry  to  see  us  go.  On  the  28th  of  February 
we  started  for  Lima  and  arrived  at  our  destination  the  same 
day. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

^*    t&&     $<£• 

For  a  short  time  after  our  arrival  in  Lima  we  stopped  with 
one  of  my  wife's  sisters,  until  we  could  find  a  suitable  house  to 
rent.  I  soon  found  one  that  was  located  on  the  same  street  on 
which  her  sister  lived.  Asking  the  price  of  the  house  the 
owner  said:  "Five  dollars  per  month."  I  paid  the  money 
and  he  gave  me  the  keys.  We  cleaned  the  house,  moved  in  our 
goods,  and  in  a  few  days  were  ready  for  housekeeping.  We  be- 
gan at  once  to  attend  the  A.  M.  E.  church,  and  took  an  active 


50 

part  in  all  the  services.  In  a  short  time  the  pastor  gave  an 
opportunity  to  those  wishing  to  join  the  church  to  do  so,  and 
we  united.  At  that  time  the  church  was  in  a  dead  and  formal 
condition,  and  remained  in  that  condition  for  several  years. 
We  were  soon  the  leaders  of  the  church  and  it  did  not  increase 
numerically  or  spiritually  until  1875,  when  the  great  revival 
reached  Ohio. 

The  first  camp-meeting  was  held  at  Landsville,  in  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1868,  for  the  promotion  of 
holiness,  and  from  that  meeting  the  revival  of  wonderful  and 
complete  salvation  spread  through  the  State  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  on  west  to  Ohio  and  other  Western  states. 
The  first  holiness  camp-meeting  in  Ohio  was  held  at  Urbana  in 
the  year  1874,  and  that  was  a  wonderful  meeting  and  from  it 
the  revival  spread  through  many  counties  in  Ohio,  especially 
through  Hancock,  Champaign  and  Hardin.  The  first  revival 
in  Hancock  county  was  held  in  September,  1875.  The  leader 
of  this  meeting  was  Mr.  W.  Ellis,  and  several  came  out  into 
the  glorious  light  of  heart  purity.  In  October  of  the  same 
year  another  meeting  was  held  in  Ramsey  chapel,  six  miles 
from  Dunkirk,  Ohio.  S.  P.,  the  leader,  was  assisted  by  W. 
M.  R.  Matthews,  of  Ada,  Ohio.  In  that  meeting  I  heard  the 
first  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification.  This  great  blessing  I 
was  hungering  and  thirsting  after  for  six  months.  I  was  under 
deep  conviction  for  a  pure  heart,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  I 
was  not  in  a  backsliding  state,  for  I  was  walking  in  the  light 
of  justification,  as  God  is  in  the  light,  and  I  was  ready  to  enter 
into  that  glorious  state  of  heart  purity.  Just  after  noon  one 
day  I  had  arrived  from  Lima  to  attend  a  quarterly  meeting. 
After  the  business  of  the  quarterly  conference  was  over,  Rev. 


51 

Clark  said  to  Brother  S.  S.  Rice  that  he  might  proceed  with 
the  holiness  meeting.  Brother  Rice  then  opened  the  meeting 
by  singing  the  hymn  : 

Oh  !  now  I  see  the  crimson  wave, 

The  fountain  deep  and  wide, 
My  Lord,  mighty  to  save, 

Points  to  his  crimson  side. 

Chorus. 
The  cleansing  stream  I  see,  I  see, 
It  cleanseth  me,  it  cleanseth  me, 
0!   praise  the  Lord,  it  cleanseth  me, 
It  cleanseth  me,  it  cleanseth  me. 

Brother  Rice  talked  a  few  moments  on  how  a  believer 
may  know  whether  his  sins  have  been  purified  or  not.  After- 
ward he  invited  any  one  who  wanted  a  pure  heart  to  the  altar. 
I  was  the  first  one  to  go  forward,  for  I  felt  very  much  in  need 
of  a  pure  heart.  Brother  Rice  was  a  great  teacher.  He  was 
so  simple  in  his  manner  of  teaching  a  soul  the  way  of  faith. 
He  was  on  the  inside  of  the  altar.  Kneeling  before  me  he 
asked  if  I  believed  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth  me  from  all 
sins  now  by  faith.  I  could  not  answer  him.  He  waited  for  a 
time  and  then  asked  me  the  same  question  again.  My  faith 
had  taken  hold  of  the  promises  of  God,  and  I  said,  "  I  do  be- 
lieve that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  As  soon 
as  the  words  were  out  of  my  mouth  I  felt  as  though  an  electric 
shock  had  passed  over  me.  It  went  through  every  avenue  of 
my  soul,  purifying  my  heart  from  all  sin.  There  was  a  voice 
in  my  soul  saying:  "Peace,  peace,  peace."  I  was  blessed 
many  times.     This  was  the  blessing  that  the  apostles  received 


52 

on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
peace  that  passed  all  understanding.  It  was  as  great  a  bless- 
ing to  me  as  was  my  first  conversion,  seven  years  before.  On 
Monday  morning  I  returned  home,  where  I  arrived  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  As  I  stepped  on  the  porch  my  wife 
saw  there  was  a  great  change  in  my  countenance,  and  asked: 
"  What  is  the  matter?"  I  replied  that  I  had  received  a  great 
blessing.  She  asked,  "  What  blessing?"  That  which  prepares 
us  for  death,  I  answered,  not  knowing  what  else  to  say.  She 
exclaimed:  "  Oh,  Mack,"  as  she  always  called  me,  "  that  is 
the  very  thing  I  want."  I  then  told  her  that  Brother  Clark, 
the  pastor,  was  going  to  have  the  holiness  people  come,  to  Lima 
and  hold  meetings  in  our  church.  She  asked  me  when,  and  I 
answered,  about  the  15th  of  October. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE    FIRST    HOLINESS    MEETING    IN    LIMA. 

Brother  Rice,  of  Ada,  and  Brother  E.  E.  Burlesson,  of 
Cleveland,  were  leaders  of  the  meeting.  A  large  number  of 
holiness  people  were  in  attendance  from  Cleveland,  Berea,  and 
other  cities  in  Ohio,  and  many  came  from  the  State  of  Indi- 
ana.    It  was  a  great  surprise  to  the  colored  people.     The  pas- 


53 

tor  announced  that  there  would  be  a  large  crowd  of  people  at 
the  meeting,  and  he  wanted  as  many  as  could  to  prepare  to 
take  care  of  some  of  the  visitors.  The  people  came  and  were 
surprised  that  the  meeting  was  to  be  held  in  the  colored  church, 
and  the  colored  people  were  surprised  to  know  that  all  the 
people  who  were  coming  to  the  meeting  were  white.  But' 
nevertheless,  when  the  people  came  they  w^ere  taken  care  of  by 
the  colored  people.  They  were  not  such  as  the  colored 
people  were  wont  to  call  "  white  trash,"  but  were  people  of 
rank.  Some  were  encouraged  in  the  meeting.  They  were  not 
all  old  people,  but  many  young  men  and  women  were  amon°- 
them . 

S.  S.  Rice  was  talking  on  the  subject  of  holiness  with  my 
wife  at  supper  one  evening.  She  was  under  deep  conviction, 
but  she  did  not  say  very  much  to  Mr.  Rice.  He  asked  her  to 
come  to  the  meeting,  and  she  promised  to  do  so.  The  meeting 
opened  with  wondrous  power  and  some  few  came  to  the  altar 
that  night.  My  wife  was  the  first  to  come.  The  meeting  was 
well  attended  by  numbers  from  all  the  churches  in  the  city. 
Sanctification  was  preached  in  that  meeting  by  those  who  had 
experimental  knowledge  of  holiness.  The  meeting  lasted  ten 
days.  It  was  a  grand  meeting.  About  thirty  claimed  to  have 
received  help  and  nineteen  professed  to  have  received  the  bless- 
ing At  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  holiness  band  was  organ- 
ized in  the  church  and  nineteen  joined  it.  My  wife  was  the 
first  one  to  come  out  in  the  experience  of  heart  purity.  She 
did  not  get  the  witness  of  the  spirit  at  that  time,  but  claimed 
tne  blessing  of  a  pure  heart  of  faith. 

Holiness  bands  were  organized  in  several  cities  and  towns 
in   Ohio,    and  in  other  states.     One  morning  while  my  wife 


54 

was  busy  getting  breakfast  I  was  reading  aloud  from  the 
"Christian  Harvester,"  published  at  Cleveland,  some  of  the 
testimonies  given  in  these  holiness  meetings.  One  sister  said 
that  all  the  Lord  wanted  us  to  do  was  to  fully  believe.  When 
my  wife  heard  that  statement  it  came  to  her  with  great  power. 
She  stepped  out  of  the  kitchen  into  the  pantry,  threw  up  her 
hands  and  said,  "Yes,  Lord,  I  do  fully  believe."  She  was  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  from  that  day  she  began  to  prosper. 
The  first  band  meeting  was  well  attended,  nearly  all  the 
members  being  present.  I  was  appointed  leader  of  the  band. 
Some  were  seeking  at  every  meeting.  The  meetings  Avere  held 
on  Tuesday  evenings  and  every  Sunday  afternoon.  It  was  not 
long  before  some  of  the  church  members  began  to  find  fault, 
saying  that  we  were  having  too  many  meetings.  Some  opposed 
the  Sunday  meetings,  claiming  to  be  opposed  to  keeping  the 
young  people  in  meeting  Sunday  afternoons.  Finally  the  op- 
position became  so  strong  against  the  afternoon  meetings  that 
we  discontinued  them.  The  opposition  kept  up  until  nearly  all 
ceased  to  attend  the  meetings,  and  within  a  year  from  the  time 
'of  the  organization  of  the  band  there  were  only  six  or  eight  re- 
maining faithful.  About  that  time  it  looked  very  dark  for  the 
continuation  of  the  meetings.  The  opposition  on  the  part  of 
some  of  the  church  members  was  so  great  that  my  wife  said 
she  felt  impelled  to  hold  cottage  prayer  meetings  every  Friday 
afternoon.  I  told  her  that  she  had  better  consult  with  the 
pastor.  Two  or  three  days  afterward  she  called  on  him  and 
was  told  that  her  plan  met  with  his  approval,  and  he  would 
appoint  her  the  leader.  The  next  Sabbath  the  pastor  gave 
notice  that  there  would  be  a  prayer  meeting  on  Friday  after- 
noon   and  that  Sister  McCray  had  been  appointed  leader.     It 


55 

was  her  first  experience  at  leading  a  meeting  but  she  was  won- 
derfully helped  by  the  Lord  in  her  effort  at  leading.  The 
meetings  were  thus  carried  on  all  summer.  Some  of  the  mem- 
bers would  say  to  her :  "Sister  McCray,  it  is  too  warm  to  have 
meeting,"  but  she  invariably  answered  them  by  saying  that  it 
is  not  too  warm  to  die.  We  still  held  the  Tuesday  night  band 
meeting.  Sometimes  the  attendance  would  be  small,  but  we 
did  not  get  discouraged.  We  still  called  upon  the  Lord  to  pour 
out  His  spirit  on  the  church  "The  Lord  wonderfully  answered 
prayer.  In  the  month  of  December,  1876,  the  revival  meeting 
commenced  in  the  church.  It  lasted  three  months  and  was  the 
greatest  meeting  ever  held  in  Lima.  Many  people  from  the 
country  attended  the  meetings.  Some  of  the  hard  hearted  sin- 
ners "were  converted  and  the  church  was  in  a  good  spiritual 
condition  for  a  long  time,  as  a  result  of  that  meeting.  The 
church  had  been  heavily  in  debt  for  several  years,  but  in  one 
and  one-half  years  after  the  meeting  the  church  was  cleared 
and  was  free  from  debt,  and  with  from  $60  to  $75  in  the 
treasury.     Everything  moved  along  nicely. 


56 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

10&       ZP*I        5^* 

OUR  HOME  IN  DAKOTA. 

In  1880,  1881,  1882  and  1883  there  was  a  great  excitement 
about  our  moving  to  Dakota.  Land  agents  out  west  Avere  dis- 
tributing circulars  all  o\rer  the  east  inviting  all  old  soldiers  and 
sailors  to  come  west  and  take  government  land.  Soldiers  wTere 
to  have  their  choice  of  the  land.  A  nephew  of  my  wife  had 
read  one  of  the  circulars.  He  came  to  our  house  and  talked  to 
my  wife  about  it.  He  asked  her  if  I  Avas  a  soldier,  and  she 
said  yes.  He  then  said  that  all  soldiers,  sailors  and  old  citi- 
zens could  go  out  west.and  take  up  land.  He  said  :  "Perhaps  your 
husband  would  go  out  there  and  take  up  some  of  the  land .  When 
I  came  home  she  told  me  all  about  it,  and  said  I  had  better  go 
and  learn  something  concerning  it.  She  said  she  Avould  have 
Johnnie  come  to  the  house  and  tell  me  all  about  it  and  to  'this 
I  consented.  In  a  day  or  tAvo  Johnnie  came  and  told  me  all 
about  the  matter.  After  he  left  I  told  my  Avife  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  very  nice  to  get  some  land  for  the  boys,  but  noth- 
ing more  was  said  about  it  for  some  time.  Presently  the'  sub- 
ject came  up  again  and  aat6  discussed  it  for  six  months  or  more 
before  we  could  arrive  at  a  conclusion.  It  was  the  opinion  of  my 
wife  all  the  time  that  I  would  go.     At  length  I  received  a  bundle 


57 

of  circulars  from  a  land  agent  at  Desmet,  Dakota.  I  took  them 
home  and  read  them  carefully.  I  then  asked  my  wife  what  she 
thought  about  it.  She  answered  that  she  thought  it  best  to  go. 
We  had  no  choice  as  to  what  place  to  go,  so  in  a  few  days  I 
wrote  a  letter  to  Desmet,  addressed  to  W.  E.  Whiting,  the 
register  of  deeds  of  Kingsbury  county.  This  was  in  October, 
1881.  Within  three  weeks  I  received  a  reply  from  Mr.  Whiting, 
giving  a  full  discription  of  that  part  of  Dakota.  After  reading 
the  letter  it  was  fully  decided  by  both  that  I  should  go,  but 
my  wife  did  not  want  me  to  go  alone.  I  tried  to  find  some 
one  to  go  along, but  was  unsuccessful,  so  on  the  12th  day  of  June, 
1882, 1  left  Lima  and  arrived  in  Desmet  on  the  14th  of  the  same 
month.  On  the  19th  I  went  out  and  selected  160  acres  and 
sent  in  my  papers  to  the  land  office  at  Watertown.  I  soon  re- 
ceived my  title  to  the  land  and  hired  a  man  to  break  ten  acres 
for  me,  in  compliance  with  the  homestead  laws.  I  also  built  a 
shanty  and  made  it  my  home  all  that  summer.  During  the 
first  week  in  October  I  started  back  to  Ohio.  I  stopped  a  few 
days  in  Chicago  and  arrived  in  Lima  on  the  17th  of  the  month. 
For  the  first  five  months  of  my  stay  in  Dakota  I  had  no  in- 
tention of  moving  there,  but  I  was  delighted  with  the  country, 
and  told  my  wife  that  we  should  sell  out  and  remove  there. 
My  wife  said  it  was  not  best  to  sell  our  property,  but  I  insisted 
that  it  was  not  best  to  leave  our  property  in  Lima  unsold. 
Nothing  more  was  said  for  some  time,  but  the  subject  came  up 
again,  and  after  discussion  we  decided  to  sell.  Our  eldest  son 
was  in  Vernon,  Mich.,  and  we  wrote  to  him  that  we  were  going 
to  move  to  Dakota.  He  answered  us  and  said  that  we  had 
better  not  move.  We  wrote  again,  saying  that  we  wished  to 
Bee  him  before  we  started,  and  he  came  at  once.     My  wife  said 


58 

that  if  Ed  would  only  go  with  us  everything  would  be  all  right. 
When  Ed  arrived  he  saw  that  we  were  getting  ready  to  move, 
and  asked  us  if  that  was  our  intention.  His  mother  answered 
that  it  was,  and  added  that  it  was  desired  that  he  go  with  us. 
After  a  few  days  of  meditation  he  consented  to  go.  Then  I 
began  to  hunt  some  one  to  buy  our  property.  Soon  a  man  was 
found  who  offered  me  $1,200  for  it,  but  something  happened 
and  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  get  the  money,  and  event- 
ually I  sold  the  property  to  another  person  for  $1,000  cash. 
The  deed  was  made  out,  the  money  paid  and  everything  settled. 
This  was  in  January,  1883.  I  began  to  buy  stock,  such  as 
horses,  hogs,  cattle  and  chickens,  and  a  wagon.  We  had 
enough  to  fill  a  car.  Another  family  by  the  name  of  Williams 
was  preparing  to  go  with  us.  We  went  to  the  P.  F.°  W.  &  C. 
Railroad  compan}T  to  see  about  getting  two  cars  from  the  Chi- 
cago &  Northwestern  railroad,  and  they  were  forwarded  to  Lima 
at  once.  On  Monday  morning,  April  9,  1888,  we  commenced 
to  load  our  goods  into  the  cars.  We  left  for  Dakota  with  one 
of  the  cars  and  Mr.  Williams  the  other.  We  left  our  families 
at  home  until  we  reached  Desmet.  We  were  nine  days  on  the 
road.  At  some  point  in  Wisconsin  we  were  delayed  three  days 
by  reason  of  the  roads  being  blockaded  with  trains  of  immi- 
grants bound  for  Dakota  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
especially  the  eastern  and  northeastern  states.  We  arrived  in 
Desmet  on  the  ninth  day  of  May,  with  all  our  stock  in  good 
condition.  We  wrote  for  our  families  to  come,  and  moved  on 
our  lands  just  as  soon  as  Ave  got  temporary  stables  built  for 
our  cattle.  Our  families  arrived  and  we  had  most  of  our  goods 
on  the  farms.  Mr.  Williams'  family  arrived  several  da}Ts  before 
my  wife  and  children,  as  the  latter  stopped  in  Chicago  for 
several  days  to  visit  relatives. 


59 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

(^*  tgrt  s&* 

OUR    HOME    IN    DAKOTA. 

Our  first  son  was  a  barber  by  trade,  so  he  stopped  in  Des-- 
niet  and  started  a  barber  shop.  Our  farm  was  twelve  miles 
from  the  same  town,  and  it  was  very  lonely  with  only  three  of 
us  in  the  family.  Our  little  boy  was  ten  years  old  and  had  no 
playmates  and  no  school  to  attend.  The  neighbors  were  few 
and  scattering.  As  for  my  wife  and  I,  we  had  no  church  to  go 
to,  no  prayer  or  Sunday  school  to  attend.  We  did  not  know 
any  Christian  people  in  the  neighborhood.  They  had  no 
thought  for  the  Sabbath  and  hunted  and  fished  as  on  any  other- 
day.  They  seemed  to  have  left  their  God  in  their  old  home 
bac  kEast.  But  in  the  name  of  our  God  we  erected  our  family 
altar  night  and  morning,  and  looked  to  our  God  to  find  help 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  cross  in  our  prairie  home.  Wife 
thought  there  must  be  some  way  to  have  meetings  some  place, 
and  I  told  her  that  when  we  became  acquainted  with  some  of 
the  neighbors  we  would  find  out  if  there  were  any  Christians 
among  them.  The  next  day  when  I  came  to  the  house  for  din- 
ner wife  said  that  she  had  had  a  visitor  that  morning.  I  asked 
her  if  it  was  a  man  or  woman  and  she  answered  that  it  was  a 
man.     She  said  that  while  she  was  at  work  in   the  garden  she 


60 

looked  up  and  saw  a  man  coming  and  waited  to  see  if  he  would 
stop  at  our  house.  He  was  singing  a  hymn,  and  my  wife  said 
to  herself  that  he  must  be  a  Christian.  He  came  to  the  garden 
and  said  good  morning,  and  asked  how  we  liked  the  country. 
My  wife  answered,  very  well,  if  we  could  only  get  acquainted. 
He  said,  that's  so.  After  they  had  talked  for  half  an  hour  he 
said  that  his  errand  was  to  borrow  a  hoe,  if  we  had  one.  She 
let  him  have  it  and  before  he  left  he  asked  us  to  come  and 
visit  with  them.  He  said  that  his  name  was  Currier.  My  wife 
told  him  we  should  call  to  see  them  in  a  short  time.  We  called 
and  found  him  to  be  a  Christian.  His  wife  at  one  time  had 
also  been  a  Christian,  but  bad  backslidden.  He  had  two  mar- 
ried sons  living  on  adjoining  farms.  The  elder  son  was  not  a 
Christian,  but  the  wife  of  the  j^-ounger  son  was  a  Christian 
woman.  There  were  about  nine  children  in  the  three  families, 
aged  from  two  to  sixteen  years.  We  had  a  good  visit  with 
them.  The  summer  passed  very  pleasantly  but  our  hearts 
were  pained  to  see  the  wickedness  among  the  people.  The  fall 
work  began  and  the  neighbors  were  very  kind  to  help  us.  When 
the  fall  work  was  over  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  feed  the 
stock,  and  wife  suggested  that  we  go  to  Mr .  Currier's  and  see  if  we 
could  not  hold  prayer  meeting  at  his  house.  I  agreed  with  her 
suggestion  and  we  made  arrangements  to  go  the  next  day.  Mr. 
Currier  was  well  pleased  with  the  idea  and  said  he  would  go 
and  invite  Mr.  Morris  and  family.  On  Tuesday  afternoon  the 
first  meeting  was  held,  with  the  members  of  four  families  in 
attendance.  The  meeting,  the  first  one  in  that  neighborhood, 
was  held  in  January,  1884,  and  was  a  blessed  one.  In  the  four 
families  represented  in  the  meeting  five  persons  were  Chris- 
tians, three  women  and  two  men.     At  the  close  of  the  meeting 


61 

we  made  arrangements  to  have  another  at  the  home  of  Mr. 
Moore  on  the  following  Tuesday  evening  at  the  same  hour.  In 
this  way  the  meeting  was  carried  on  till  the  latter  part  of  Feb- 
ruary, and  all  of  us  were  greatly  strengthened.  Mr.  Moore, 
who  had  been  a  Christian,  but  had  backslidden,  was  reclaimed 
in  the  meeting,  but  did  not  stand  true  very  long,  as  he  fell  back 
into  sin  again  when  the  meetings  closed  about  the  first  of 
March,  when  spring  work  commenced. 

The  first  week  in  March  was  too  stormy  to  commence  the 
sowing  of  seed  for  the  wheat  crop.  One  morning  after  my 
little  boy  and  myself  had  finished  feeding  the  stock  and  milk- 
ing £he  cows,  we  were  all  seated  and  talking  over  various  affairs, 
wdien  Prince  said :  "  Mamma,  I  wish  there  was  a  house  some- 
where in  which  school  might  be  held."  The  directors  of  the 
township  had  said  we  might  have  school  if  we  would  furnish  a 
house  to  hold  it  in  and  find  some  one  that  could  teach  accord- 
ing to  the  law.  No  school  houses  had  at  that  time  been  built 
in  that  part  of  the  country.  Neither  of  us  answered  him  for  a 
moment,  when  wife  said  that  she  believed  Mr.  Hance  Lee 
would  let  the  people  have  his  house  to  held  school  in.  There 
were  three  Norwegians,  brothers,  who  lived  next  to  us,  their 
farms  joining  ours  on  the  north  and  south.  The  brothers  all 
lived  in  one  house  and  the  shanties  on  the  other  two  claims 
were  vacant.  Prince  said  he  would  go  over  and  ask  Mr.  Hance 
about  using  his  house  as  a  school,  and  his  mother  told  him  to 
go.  In  a  few  moments  he  was  back  with  the  information  that 
the  house  could  be  had  to  hold  school  in.  The  next  morning 
the  two  brothers  passed  our  house.  I  asked  Mr.  Hance  about 
the  house  and  he  said  they  might  use  it  if  there  was  any  money 
in  it.     Wife  thought  it  would  be  well  to  go  to  speak  to  Mr. 


62 

Currier  about  the  house  and  I  went.  He  was  very  glad  at  the 
prospects  and  said  he  would  go  and  talk  with  the  directors 
about  it.  Those  officials  said  it  was  all  right,  but  there  was  no 
money  for  rent,  so  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  a  teacher.. 
The  next  thing  to  do  was  to  find  some  one  qualified  to  teach. 
There  was  no  single  woman  in  the  neighborhood,  and  only  one 
married  woman  that  could  teach.  She  was  the  mother  of  two 
children,  one  aged  four  and  the  other  two  years.  She  was  one 
of  Mr.  Currier's  daughters-in-law.  They  hardly  knew  how  to 
arrange  it,  but  at  last  she  told  Mrs.  Currier  that  if  she  would 
take  care  of  her  children  she  would  pay  her  for  it.  To  this  ar- 
rangement Mrs.  Currier  assented.  Mr.  Currier  took  Mary 
down  to  the  superintendent  where  she  passed  the  examination 
and  received  a  legal  certificate,  to  the  joy  and  gladness  of  all 
concerned.  This  was  the  first  public  school  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  It  commenced  March  1st,  1884,  and  closed  the  first 
of  July  of  the  same  year. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

(^*    t£*    &?* 

SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

In  April  we  conceived  the  plan  of  having  a  Sunday  school 
some  place  in  the  neighborhood,  and  wife  suggested  that  some 


63 

■one  might  be  found  to  open  up  their  house  for  the  school.  We 
talked  the  matter  over  with  Mr.  Currier's  family.  Then  the 
word  was  given  out  to  all  of  the  neighbors  and  all  were  in 
favor  of  the  Sunday  school.  Then  the  question  arose,  who 
will  open  their  house  for  it.  At  that  time  there  was  but  one 
house  in  the  neighborhood  large  enough,  and  that  was  ours. 
Mr.  Currier  suggested  to  some  of  the  neighbors  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Cray's  house  was  the  best  place  in  which  to  hold  the  school,  as 
it  was  the  largest.  Then  a  discussion  arose  in  regard  to  the 
matter  and  some  said  they  would  not  go  if  the  Sunday  school 
was  held  in  the  house  of  a  colored  person.  Others  said  that 
made  no  difference  and  many  pleasant  things  were  said.  The 
Bible  says  that  we  must  bear  all  things  for  Christ's  sake  and 
not  to  find  fault.  Sinners  and  formal  church  members  have 
crucified  Christ,  as  he  has  died  for  us.  We  had  learned  to 
suffer  all  things  for  his  name's  sake.  The  subject  of  organiz- 
ing a  Sunday  school  came  to  a  standstill  in  the  neighborhood. 
Opposition  of  this  kind  is  what  hindered  the  progress  of  the 
black  race  in  America  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  They 
were,  and  are  now,  hindered  in  every  way  because  their  faces 
are  black.  The  people  in  that  neighborhood  thought  to  hold 
Sunday  school  in  the  house  of  a  colored  person  was  giving  too 
much  honor  to  the  race.  It  was  the  first  Sunday  school  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  Many  not  only  failed  to  come  themselves, 
but  did  all  in  their  power  to  keep  others  away.  But  the  peo- 
ple did  not  know  that  the  Lord  had  something  to  do  with  hav- 
ing a  Sunday  school  in  that  part  of  the  country .  We  did  not 
want  Sunday  school  held  in  our  house,  our  only  object  was  to 
-carry  forward  the  work  of  the  Lord,  as  He  showed  it  to  us. 

By  this  time  the  news  had  reached  all  through  the  neigh- 


64 

borhood,  and  some  people  living  southeast  of  us  came  to  see 
about  it.  Mr.  Currier  happened  to  be  at  our  house  at  the  same 
time,  and  arrangements  were  made  to  organize  the  school  at 
our  home.  The  next  Sunday,  according  to  arrangements  made 
then,  the  school  was  duly  organized.  The  question  again  arose, 
whose  house  shall  we  have  the  school  in?  Mrs.  Booth  said 
many  had  objections  to  coming  to  Mr.  McCray's  to  Sunday 
school,  but  as  for  her  family  there  was  none  whatever.  Mr. 
Cluett  said  the  same  thing.  I  said  that  I  did  not  think  it  wise 
to  have  the  school  at  our  house,  but  for  the  present  it  would  be 
better  to  hold  it  at  Mr.  Booth's,  as  their  rooms  are  just  as 
large  as  ours.  A  vote  was  taken  and  carried  to  have  it  at  Mr. 
Booth's.  The  first  session  was  held  in  their  home,  five  miles 
south  of  our  neighborhood,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1884.  The 
school  was  carried  on  successfully  during  the  entire  summer. 
The  most  of  the  attendance  was  from  the  neighborhood.  That 
was  the  Lord's  way,  not  ours,  and  we  gladly  accepted  it.  "  The 
way  of  the  Lord  is  not  our  way."  By  having  the  Sunday  school 
at  Mr.  Booth's  we  were  greatly  blessed  also  in  having  preach- 
ing every  two  weeks  by  a  preacher  from  Desmet.  The  school 
closed  on  the  15th  of  October,  as  the  cold  weather  set  in  the 
10th  or  15th  of  November. 


65 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

^*    ^*     ((?* 

BUILDING  PUBLIC  HOUSES  AND  PLACES  OP  WORSHIP. 

When  school  stopped  the  people  were  greatly  agitated  for 
six  months.  It  was  decided  that  each  township  should  submit 
propositions  to  the  voters  to  build  as  many  school  houses  as 
were  needed,  at  a  cost  of  $700  each.  The  usual  time  for  spring 
election  was  on  the  second  Monday  in  March,  and  the  nomi- 
nating conventions  were  held  one  month  earlier.  Notice  was 
given  that  the  conventions  would  be  on  the  tenth  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the  different  officers.  I 
went  to  the  convention  and  found  most  all  the  voters  in  the 
township  present.  There  was  great  discussion  in  regard  to  the 
school  house  proposition .  Some  of  the  voters  were  not  in  favor 
of  building  school  houses  at  all.  Others  thought  each  district 
should  build  its  own  house  at  a  cost  of  $300  each,  and  others 
were  not  in  favor  of  holding  religious  meetings  in  the  school 
houses.  One  man  said  that  for  himself  he  did  not  believe  in 
religion,  but  he  would  not  want  his  family  to  live  in  a  neigh- 
borhood where  there  were  no  religious  meetings  held.  The  ex- 
citement run  very  high  and  the  convention  was  called  to  a  close 
by  the  chairman.  They  proceeded  in  the  nomination  of  offi- 
cers. The  balloting  commenced,  all  the  officers  were  placed  in 
nomination,  and  the  convention  was  over.  Between  the  con- 
vention and  the  election,  a  space  of  one  month;  those  who  op- 


66 

posed   the  building  of  the  school  houses  did  all  in  their  power 
to  influence  voters  against  the  proposition.     The  election  day 
was  on  the  sixth  of  March,  and  every  voter  was  requested  to  be 
at  the  polls  to  vote.     The  forenoon  was  very  blustery,  but  I 
went,  and  after  I  had  voted  remained  about  an  hour  to  find  out 
about  the  votes  cast  in  the  morning.     Several  others  remained 
also.     One  man  said  that  from  the  best  information  he  could 
gain  all  the  votes  cast  were  against  the  school  house  proposi- 
tion,  and  I  believed  such  to  be  the  case.     I  returned  home 
down-hearted  and  discouraged,  and  as  soon  as  I  got  into  the 
house  my  wife  asked,  "Well,  Mack,  how  is  the  election?"     I 
replied  that  I  was  discouraged,  and  believed  we  would  be  de- 
feated on  the  school   house  proposition.       All   the   Christian 
people    were    in    favor    of    the    building    of    school    houses. 
My  wife   said:      "I  have  been    praying    all    morning   for  the 
proposition    to    carry,     and    I    know  the    Lord    will    answer 
my    prayer."      I  told    her    that    most    all    the  men   who  had 
voted    in    the    morning    had    cast    their   ballots    against    it, 
but     she    answered      that     there     would     be     enough     votes 
cast  in   the   afternoon   to  carry  the  proposition.     We  did  not 
say  any  more   about  it.     The  next  morning  Mr.  Currier  came 
along  and  in  answer  to  our  question  said  that  the  school  house 
proposition  had  carried  by  a  small  majority.     My  wife  said : 
"I  told  you  that."     The  school  question  was  now  settled,  and 
the  county  officials  soon  gave  notice  to  the   township  officials 
that  there  would  be  seven  school  houses  built  in  the  township 
at  once,  and  they  were  to  be  finished  by  the  first  of  November, 
so   as  to  be  ready  for   the  winter  term  of  school.     The  school 
houses  were  planned,  let  to  contrators  at  a  cost  at  $700  each, 
and  were  finished  according  to  the  contract. 


67 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

t<?*  fc?*  5^* 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL    QUESTION. 

The  question  of  Sunday  schools  came  up  in  our  neighbor- 
hood again.  My  wife  said  that  Mr.  Lee  would  allow  the  use  of 
his  house  for  Sunday  school  purposes.  The  winter  term  of 
school  would  be  out  the  last  of  March  and  then  the  school 
house  would  be  vacant.  I  went  to  see  Mr.  Lee  about  the  house 
and  he  said  he  had  no  objections  to  people  using  his  house  in 
which  to  hold  Sunday  school.  Nothing  more  was  said  about 
the  matter  until  about  the  first  of  May,  when  my  wife  sug- 
gested that  we  see  Mr.  Currier  about  the  Sunday  school.  I  was 
nearly  through  putting  in  my  spring  crops.  The  next  week  I 
went  to  Mr.  Currier  and  told  him  about  Mr.  Lee's  house.  He 
thought  there  would  not  be  much  trouble  in  organizing  the 
Sunday  school,  as  several  more  families  had  moved  into  the 
neighborhood  since  the  spring  of  1884.  After  we  had  talked 
the  matter  over  we  decided  to  have  all  the  people  meet  at  Mr. 
Lee's  house  on  the  second  Sunday  in  May.  Mr.  Currier  agreed 
to  tell  as  many  as  he  could  see  and  we  did  the  same,  and  also* 
sent  word  to  others.  Within  a  week  the  entire  neighborhood 
had  been  notified,  and  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting 
there  were  from  twelve  to  fifteen  families  present.     A  motion 


was  made  that  Mr.  Currier  preside  over  the  meeting.  Mr. 
A] cock  was  elected  superintendent,  Mr.  Grant  Barton  secre- 
tary, and  Mr.  Currier  treasurer.  Three  teachers  were  also 
selected.  The  school  progressed  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
with  more  new  scholars  at  each  session.  They  kept  com- 
ing until  the  little  house  was  too  small.  Something  had 
to  be  done  to  make  room.  All  agreed  that  the  house  was  too 
small,  and  that  it  was  too  hot  to  stand  outside.  This  was  about 
the  first  of  July.  After  the  Sunday  school  had  closed  we  went 
home,  and  then  my  wife  said  that  perhaps  we  could  get  a  tent, 
or  some  muslin  to  make  one  out  of.  We  went  to  see  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Currier  to  get  their  advice  in  the  matter.  They  were  go- 
ing to  Desmet  the  next  day,  and  I  said  that  probably  my  wife 
could  go  along  with  them.  They  said  they  would  be  glad  to 
have  her  go.  I  went  home  and  told  my  wife  of  the  arrange- 
ment, and  she  said  she  would  go.  When  they  came  along  the 
next  day  my  wife  was  ready.  They  inquired  about  a  tent,  but 
could  find  none.  My  wife  said  to  Mrs.  Currier  that  they  would 
go  to  Mr.  Morris'  store  and  see  about  getting  some  muslin. 
As  they  entered  the  store  Mr.  Morris  spoke  to  my  wife,  as  he 
was  acquainted  with  us.  They  asked  to  see  some  cloth  suitable 
for  making  a  tent,  and  he  said  the  best  thing  he  had  was  some 
unbleached  muslin,  one  and  a  half  yards  wide,  which  he  thought 
would  be  just  the  thing  for  tenting.  The  ladies  said  they 
would  take  two  bolts.  My  wife  said  to  Mr.  Morris  that  they 
had  no  money  to  pay  for  it  with,  and  he  answered,  "I  can 
charge  it,  Mrs.  McCray."  To  this  she  said  all  right.  Their 
next  trip  was  to  get  four  or  five  pieces  of  lumber  twelve  to 
fourteen  feet  long,  which  they  procured  from  a  lumber  yard 
they  passed  when  on  the  way  home.     By  Sunday  the  tent  was 


69 

ready  to  put  up,  and  then  there  was  plenty  of  room  for  all. 
The  school  proved  to  be  a  great  blessing  to  the  neighborhood. 
Many  gave  up  their  Sunday  work  in  order  to  be  present  at  the 
school.  Most  of  those  who  attended  were  Methodists,  and 
some  one  said  that  as  so  many  were  attending  the  Sunday 
school  it  would  be  nice  to  get  a  preacher  to  come  out  and  preach 
to  the  people  every  two  weeks.  The  proposition  was  talked 
over  by  several,  and  one  man  said  he  was  going  to  Desmet  the 
next  week  and  he  would  see  if  he  could  find  a  minister  that 
would  come  out  and  preach  every  second  Sunday.  At  the  close 
of  Sunday  school  the  superintendent  announced  that  there 
would  be  preaching  immediately  after  the  Sunday  school  and 
invited  all  who  could  to  stay.  Nearly  all  remained.  The 
minister  was  there  three  times.  After  he  had  finished  his  dis- 
course he  asked  all  those  who  were  Christians  to  let  the  fact  be 
known,  and  going  through  the  audience  he  found  that  most  all 
those  present  belonged  to  some  church.  He  announced  that 
he  had  found  out  that  most  all  the  people  were  Methodists,  and 
that  if  the  people  had  no  objections  he  would  form  a  class,  and 
then  they  could  have  a  class  or  prayer  meeting  every  Sunday 
after  the  close  of  Sunday  school.  After  the  Sunday  school 
closed  the  people  accepted  the  offer  to  have  prayer  and  class 
meeting.  The  minister  was  a  Methodist,  and  appointed  lead- 
ers. The  Sunday  school,  class  and  prayer  meetings  were  con- 
tinued all  summer,  but  only  a  few  attended  and  so  the  meet- 
ing and  Sunday  school  closed  October  15,  1885. 


70 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

t£m         *£*        ^n 

The  school  houses  were  now  built  and  and  we  could  hold 
meetings  in  them.  Presently  the  words  came  to  my  wife,  just 
as  distinctly  as  if  a  man  had  spoken  them  to  her,  and  she  said : 
"  I  know  it  is  the  Lord  that  has  called  me  to  work,  and  I  must 
do  it."  I  tried  to  convince  her  that  it  was  her  own  thoughts, 
but  she  said  no,  that  it  was  the  voice  of  the  Lord  speaking  to 
her.  I  opposed  her  at  first,  but  she  did  not  say  very  much. 
She  was  a  wise  woman  in  the  things  of  the  Lord,  and  knew  the 
call  of  the  Lord  better  than  I  did,  as  she  had  received  the  call 
before  leaving  Lima.  The  enemy,  who  has  something  with  which 
to  oppose  every  one  who  is  called  of  the  Lord  to  work  for  the  sal- 
vation of  souls,  tested  her  on  every  side.  Her  greatest  trial 
was  that  she  had  no  education,  and  the  enemy  struck  her 
several  hard  blows  by  telling  her  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  her  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  when  she  could  neither 
read  nor  write.  The  test  was  a  hard  one  to  overcome,  but  the 
Lord  was  a  present  help  in  the  time  of  need,  and  she  called  on 
Him  for  aid.  One  day  she  was  praying  to  the  Lord  about  not 
having  an  education,  when  words  came  toher  saying,  "You  lead 
the  people  as  I  lead  you."  She  answered,  "  Yes,  Lord,  I  will," 
and  arose  from  her  knees  with  the  victory  in  her  soul.  It  is 
better  to  follow   the   Lord  wherever  He   may  lead  you.     The 


71 

Lord  soon  showed  me  that  I  did  wrong  in  opposing  her  in  the 
work.  The  school  houses  were  all  numbered  and  named  from 
the  farms  on  which  they  were  located.  I  asked  her  one  day  in 
which  building  she  would  hold  her  first  meeting,  and  she 
answered  in  Mr.  Currier's  school  house,  which  was  numbered 
six.  It  was  situated  just  one  mile  from  our  home.  I  also 
asked  her  how  soon  she  would  begin,  and  she  replied:  "  Just 
as  soon  as  we  can  give  notice  to  the  people."  She  also  asked 
me  to  go  to  Mr.  Currier's  and  tell  them  to  send  the  word  to  all 
the  neighbors  north  of  us.  We  could  spread  the  news  in  the 
other  direction. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  on  the  evening  of  January  5th, 
1886.  Not  very  many  were  present  at  the  first  meeting.  It 
was  the  first  time  that  my  wife  had  come  before  the  people  as  a 
preacher.     The  meeting  was  opened  by  singing  the  hymn : 

There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 

Drawn  from  Emanuel's  veins, 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  the  flood, 
•  .          Lose  all  their  guilty  stains. 

I  had  to  lead  the  singing  but  the  people  did  not  help  very 
much  at  first.  It  was  arranged  after  prayer  that  Mr.  Currier 
was  to  read  a  lesson.  After  this  the  speaker  took  for  her  text 
the  third  verse  of  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  which 
reads  as  follows:  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  unless  ye  be  con- 
verted and  become  as  little  children  ye  cannot  enter  the  King- 
dow  of  Heaven."  She  was  wonderfully  helped  by  the  Lord  to 
preach  the  truth  to  the  people.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting 
she  asked  if  there  were  any  who  desired  to  seek  the  Lord  and 
one  or  two  answered  yes.     Several  prayers  were  then  offered 


72 

and  the  meeting  was  dismissed.  She  announced  that  there 
would  be  meeting  every  night.  It  continued  every  night  with 
an  increased  attendance.  On  the  third  two  or  three  came  to 
the  altar,  and  at  the  end  of  the  week  five  had  been  converted. 
By  the  middle  of  the  second  week  the  school  house  was  nearly 
filled,  and  the  third  week  it  was  crowded.  Many  who  did  not 
understand  how  a  woman  who  was  not  educated  could  preach 
the  gospel  came  merely  to  witness  the  excitement.  Mr .  Alcock, 
who  was  the  best  scholar  in  the  neighborhood,  said  it  was  a 
wonder  to  him ;  that  he  had  never  before  seen  a  person  who 
could  'preach  without  being  educated.  One  one  old  man,  a 
Southerner,  said  he  did  not  have  much  love  for  the  colored 
people,  but  he  became  greatly  agitated  over  the  meeting  and 
said  he  would  not  attend  because  the  niggers  were  at  the  head 
of  it.  About  two  weeks  before  the  meeting  began  he  rebuked 
Mr.  Currier  for  helping  on  with  it,  and  also  for  keeping  com- 
pany with  us.  He  said  he  did  not  propose  to  keep  com- 
pany with  niggers.  He  had  at  one  time  been  a  class  leader  in  a 
Methodist  church.  Wife  and  I  heard  of  it  but  kept  our  coun- 
sels in  regard  to  the  matter.  About  the  middle  of  the  third 
week  two  of  the  boys  of  the  old  Southerner  came  to  the  altar 
and  that  brought  him  to  the  meeting.  That  night  there  was 
not  standing  room  in  the  house.  After  wife  had  finished 
preaching  she  called  for  seekers  to  come  forward  to  the  altar, 
and  the  same  ones  came  forward.  The  third  one  had  promised 
the  night  before  to  come  also,  but  for  fear  of  his  father,  re- 
frained from  so  doing.  The  audience  was  filled  with  seekers. 
Wife  went  back  through  the  audience  talking  to  the  people. 
Presently  she  saw  the  old  Southerner,  Llo}Td  by  name,  and  said 
to  him:     "Mr.  Lloyd,  please  go  forward  and  help  the  laborers 


73 

with  their  work."  He  refused  to  go  and  when  wife  pressed 
him  for  his  reasons  for  not  going  he  said  he  would  rather  not 
give  them. 

The  meeting  continued  for  three  weeks,  closing  on  Sunday- 
night  at  the  end  of  the  third  week.  About  fifteen  souls  were 
converted  during  the  meeting, nearly  all  of  them  married  people. 
Among  the  converts  were  two  or  three  young  boys.  At  the 
close  of  the  service  it  was  announced  that  there  would  be  meet- 
ings the  following  Sunday  morning  and  evening.  On  the  Mon- 
day morning  after  the  close  of  the  revival  meeting  wife  said  to 
me:  "Mack,  I  want  to  go  to  Mr.  Lloyd's  this  morning."  I 
asked  her  reasons,  and  she  said  in  regard  to  the  trouble  he  had 
had  with  our  eldest  son  in  regard  to  a  land  deal.  Mr.  Lloyd 
had  purchased  160  acres  from  our  son,  and  claimed  that  he  had 
been  cheated  out  of  $75,  and  thought  that  we  should  return  it 
to  him.  Wife  said  that  while  she  was  praying  the  Lord  im- 
pressed it  upon  her  heart  that  we  should  go  to  Mr.  Lloyd  and 
arrange  the  matter.  I  agreed  to  go.  She  then  wanted  me  to 
drive  past  Mr.  Currier's,  as  she  wished  him  to  go  with  us.  I 
drove  to  Mr.  Currier's  house,  but  did  not  get  out  of  the  wagon. 
Wife  told  him  that  she  would  like  to  have  him  go  over  to  Mr. 
Lloyd's  with  us,  as  we  wished  him  to  be  present  during  the  set- 
tlement of  some  business  matters. 

He  said  he  would  go.  He  went  to  the  house  for  his  hat  and 
overcoat  and  in  a  moment  was  ready.  We  drove  to  Mr.  Lloyd's 
house.  He  met  us  at  the  door  and  invited  us  in.  He  assisted 
us  in  putting  the  horse  in  the  barn,  and  after  we  had  returned 
to  the  house  and  were  all  seated,  my  wife  told  him  that  we  had 
come  over  to  find  out  what  his  objections  were  for  not  coming 
to  the  altar  a  few  evenings  since  to  pray  with  the  other  seekers. 


74 

She  told  him  if  there  was  any  fault  on  her  part  that  she  would 
try  to  make  it  right.  In  answer  Mr.  Lloyd  said  that  so  far  as 
going  forward  to  pray  for  seekers  he  was  not  in  the  proper  con- 
dition. He  then  said:  "Your  son  cheated  me  out  of  seventy- 
five  dollars  and  I  think  you  ought  to  pay  it."  I  reminded  him 
that  at  the  time  the  trade  was  made  he  knew  my  son  was  of 
age  and  in  business  for  himself,  and  that  when  he  bought  the 
land  he  said  nothing  to  us  about  it.  My  wife  said  that  she  did 
not  think  it  right  for  us  to  pay  the  money  when  we  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  making  the  deal.  Mr.  Lloyd  answered  that  par- 
ents should  help  their  children  to  make  their  wrongs  right  if 
possible.  I  then  said  we  would  pay  him  if  we  were  only  able, 
and  he  said  he  would  be  satisfied  with  fifty  dollars.  My  wife 
said  that  we  had  no  money,  but  that  our  son  had  gone  east  and 
as  soon  as  we  heard  from  him  we  would  write  and  ask  him  to 
help  us  raise  the  money,  and  it  would  be  paid  as  soon  as  we 
could  secure  enough  money.  Mr.  Currier  asked  if  that  was 
satisfactory,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  answered  that  it  was.  My  wife 
then  said  that  we  would  have  a  word  of  prayer  before  going 
home.  We  all  kneeled  down  and  my  wife  offered  a  sj)ecial 
prayer  for  Mr.  Lloyd  and  his  family.  After  we  had  arisen  from 
our  knees  we  began  to  make  preparations  to  go  home,  but  Mr. 
Lloyd  said  we  must  have  dinner  before  we  started,  as  it  was 
then  about  noon.  His  wife  was  a  cripple,  but  she  soon  had 
dinner  ready,  and  we  partook  of  the  bounties  of  Mr.  Lloyd y 
who  had  said  only  two  weeks  before  that  he  did  not  intend  to 
associate  with  niggers. 

After  dinner  we  returned  home,  when  my  wife  remarked 
that  she  was  well  blessed  in  her  visit  to  Mr.  Lloyd's.  I  said 
that  I  was  very  glad  we  went.     She  answered  that  she  was  very 


75 

thankful  to  know  that  the  Lord  always  makes  men  do  the  very- 
things  they  do  not  wish  to.  After  that  Mr.  Lloyd  had  no  ob- 
jections to  associating  with  colored  people,  and  when  the  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  school  house  a  good  audience  was  always 
in  attendance,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  and  most  of  his  family  were  there 
at  all  the  sessions.  Soon  arrangements  were  made  to  have 
regular  services  in  the  school  house  every  Sunday  and  prayer 
meeting  on  Thursday  evening. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

t^*     t^*     £?* 

The  place  of  holding  the  meetings  was  afterwards  changed 
to  the  Bartrum  school  house,  which  was  three  miles  north  of 
our  farm.  There  was  a  large  class  of  Methodists  in  that 
neighborhood.  The  meetings  and  Sunday  school  were  well  at- 
tended all  through  the  summer  and  fall  of  1886.  After  Christ- 
mas it  was  decided  to  hold  a  revival  service.  The  meetings 
were  held  for  one  week,  and  then  it  was  thought  best  to  pro- 
cure a  preacher.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  several  ladies 
were  standing  together  talking,  when  one  turned  to  my  wife 
and  said:  "Mrs.  McCr-ay,  what  do  you  think  about  having  a 
preacher?"  My  wife  said  that  if  acceptable,  she  would  lead 
the  meetings.  They  all  looked  at  each  other  in  surprise  and 
one  said  :     "Mrs.  McCray,  you  help  us   all  right,  but  we  think 


76 

it  best  to  have  a  preacher.  My  wife  answered  that  she  would 
do  the  preaching  for  them,  and  they  said  nothing  more.  These 
women  were  the  leaders  in  the  church,  and  one  of  them,  Mrs. 
Prath,  was  the  wife  of  the  leader  of  the  class  to  which  my  wife 
belonged.  On  their  way  home  they  stopped  at  Mr.  Barthune's 
house,  which  we  all  had  to  pass  on  the  way  home.  Here  they 
held  counsel  as  to  what  had  better  be  done  about  a  preacher. 
My  wife  came  up  for  discussion,  and  one  said,  "Mrs.  McCray 
is  a  good  Christian  woman,  but  she  is  colored  and  I  do  not 
think  it  best  for  us  to  accept  her  offer  to  lead  the  meeting." 
Another  suggested  that  as  Mr.  Prath  was  class  leader  it  would 
be  best  for  him  to  take  charge  of  the  meeting  until  a  preacher 
could  be  secured.  This  course  was  decided  upon  and  Mr.  Prath 
prepared  to  take  charge  of  the  meeting  to  be  held  the  next  Mon- 
day evening. 

The  evening  arrived  and  the  house  was  crowded.  After 
singing  and  prayer  Mr.  Prath  stepped  into  the  pulpit  and  an- 
nounced that  as  a  minister  could  not  be  secured  to  lead  the 
meeting,  the  duty  fell  upon  him.  He  promised  to  do  the  best 
he  could  and  asked  all  Christians  to  pray  for  him.  His  ser- 
mon, which  was  nothing  more  than  such  an  essay  as  a  school 
boy  would  compose,  written  on  paper.  After  talking  about  five 
minutes,  he  began  to  read  his  essay.  When  about  half  through 
he  became  mixed  up,  which  caused  some  of  the  young  people  in 
the  audience  to  laugh.  This  confused  him  so  that  he  at  once 
called  upon  some  one  to  pray.  The  sermon  was  a  complete 
failure.  His  condition  was  like  that  of  many  who  go  forth  to 
call  sinners  to  repentance.  They  are  nothing  more  than  dead, 
formal  church  members,  who  know  nothing  of  the  saving 
power  of  God.     Sometimes  the  Lord  stops  them  in  their  blind- 


77 

ness,  for  we  read  in  His  holy  word  that  if  the  blind  lead  the 
blind  they  shall  both  fall  into  the  ditch.  The  meeting  con- 
tinued for  several  nights,  but  Mr.  Prath  did  not  attempt  to  go 
into  the  pulpit  to  speak  again.  The  meeting  closed  with  the 
last  of  the  week.  The  people  wanted  to  choose  their  own 
leader,  and  therefore,  no  one  was  lifted  out  of  their  dark  and 
sinful  state. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

^?*     (^*     ^* 

LOST  IN  A  SNOW  STORM. 

About  the  middle  of  February,  1886,  after  our  son  Prince 
had  gone  to  school,  I  had  finished  my  chores  and  gone  into  the 
house.  I  asked  my  wife  if  she  would  like  to  go  over  to  Mr. 
John  Hackett's,  as  it  was  such  a  nice  morning.  She  said  that 
she  did  not  care  to  go  then,  but  I  answered  that  if  we  did  not 
go  I  did  not  know  when  we  would  have  a  chance  again.  After 
thinking  for  a  time  she  said  that  she  did  not  care  to  go.  I  told 
her  that  I  was  going,  but  did  not  like  to  go  alone,  and  with  this 
went  out  to  the  barn.  In  a  few  moments  I  returned  to  the 
house  and  found  that  she  had  decided  to  go  along.  I  told  her 
to  get  ready  while  I  hitched  the  horses  and  in  a  few  moments 
we  were  on  our  way.     Mr.  Hackett  lived  just  one  mile  southeast 


78 

of  our  farm,  and  our  horses  had  soon  covered  the  distance. 
As  we  drove  up  Mr.  Hackett  came  to  the  door  and  invited  us 
in.  My  wife  went  into  the  house  while  Mr.  Hackett  assisted 
me  in  unhitching  the  horses  and  putting  them  in  the  barn. 
Going  to  the  house  we  had  a  very  pleasant  visit  for  an  hour 
and  a  half,  when  I  remarked  that  it  was  time  for  us  to  go  home. 
Mrs.  Hackett  insisted  that  we  have  dinner  before  we  returned 
and  began  at  once  to  prepare  the  meal,  and  in  a  few  moments 
we  were  all  seated  around  the  table.  Just  as  we  were  finishing 
dinner,  Mr.  Hackett's  brother,  who  lived  only  about  twenty 
rods  away,  entered  the  house.  As  he  opened  the  door  we  could 
see  that  it  was  storming.  Mr.  Hackett  asked  his  brother  if  it 
was  much  of  a  storm  and  he  answered  that  it  was,  and  rapidly 
growing  worse.  He  also  said  that  it  had  been  storming  about 
an  hour.  We  had  not  noticed  it  as  the  windows  were  iced  over 
from  the  steam  of  the  cooking.  I  went  out  to  see  how  the 
storm  was  and  found  it  very  bad  and  growing  worse.  We  im- 
mediately made  preparations  to  go  home.  I  soon  had  the 
horses  hitched  to  the  sleigh  and  driving  up  to  the  house  my 
wife  took  a  seat  beside  me.  There  was  plenty  of  straw  in  the 
bottom  of  the  sleigh  and  we  had  three  or  four  blankets.  Mr. 
Hackett  asked  if  I  thought  we  would  have  any  trouble  in  get- 
ting home.  I  told  him  that  I  did  not  anticipate  any  trouble, 
as  the  tracks  made  by  the  sleigh  when  we  came  over  were  yet 
visible.  We  bade  them  goodbye,  and  started  the  horses  off 
just  as  fast  as  they  could  go. 

It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we  started,  and 
before  we  had  gone  far  we  discovered  that  we  were  in  a  terrible 
storm.  Soon  we  lost  sight  of  the  sleigh  tracks.  For  a  time 
we  kept  on  as  we  supposed  straight  ahead,  but  at  last  I  stopped 


7.9 

the  horses,  and  said  to  my  wife  that  we  were  lost.  She  thought 
not.     The  heavy  storm  and  black  clouds  made  it  so  dark  that 
we  could  scarcely  see  each    other   sitting  as   close   as  we   were. 
My  wife  then  suggested  that  the  horses  be  started   and  allowed 
to  take  their  own  way.     After  we   had  thus  wandered   around 
for  some  time  I  said  that   I    did  not  think  we  were   far  from 
home,  but  she    thought  we  were    three    or  four  miles   away. 
Again  the  horses  were   allowed  to   take   their  own  course,  but 
after  they  had  walked  for  some  time  I  stopped  them  and  getting 
out  of  the  sleigh  walked  a  few  steps  ahead  of  the  horses  and 
found  a  place  where   the   snow   had  been   blown    away  and  the 
ground  left  bare.     It  was  where   some   one   had  cut  hay,  and  I 
thought  I  could  recognize  it.     I  climbed  into  the  sleigh  and 
started  the  horses.     They  were   soon  plunging   through   a  ter- 
rible big  snow  drift  which  they  finally  pulled  through  and  were 
again  on  the  level  plain.     Then  I  stopped  them  again,  and  said 
the  Lord  would  have  to  deliver  us  from  this  storm.     Wife  said 
she  was  praying  for  deliverance.      I  started  the  horses  again. 
Soon  the  clouds  began  to  break  and  I  could  see  some  distance 
ahead  of  the  horses.     Thinking  I  saw  some  weeds  I  started  the 
horses  toward  them.     The    horses    plunged    into   a   snow  drift 
again  and  soon  were  in  the  road  where   the  wind  had  cleared 
away  the  snow.     As  soon  as  the  horses  were   in   the  road  they 
turned  and  went   south,  and  had  only  gone  a  short  distance 
when  I  saw  the  top  of  a  house.     I'said  I  believed  it  was  our 
house,  and  wife  told  me  to  drive  up  and  we  could  get  shelter, 
even  if  it  was  not  our  own  home.  Arriving  at  the  house  we  found 
that  my  predictions  were  correct.    Oh!   what  a  wonderful  time 
of  rejoicing  over  our  deliverance  from;the  storm.     One  of  wife's 
hands  was  frozen  very  badly.     We  did  not  see  our  little  boy 


80 

Prince  for  three  days.  The  third  day  he  came  home  unharmed, 
so  we  gave  God  the  glory  for  his  wonderful  help  in  the  time  of 
trouble. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

£**       ^*        e^* 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  A  FREE  METHODIST  CLASS. 

My  wife  became  convinced  that  she  was  led  by  the  Lord 
to  organize  her  work  into  a  body.  I  asked  her  what  she  would 
call  it  and  she  said  she  did  not  know  until  she  had  seen  Mr. 
Currier.  He  said  he  would  not  join  any  body  except  the  Free 
Methodists.  We  did  not  know  anything  about  this  denomina- 
tion, but  Mr.  Currier  had  been  converted  at  a  Free  Methodist 
camp-meeting  about  three  years  before  he  came  to  Dakota.  He 
had  formerly  been  a  member  of  the  Advents  for  over  thirty 
years,  but  after  his  conversion  at  the  camp-meeting  he  did  not 
fellowship  with  them  any  more,  though  he  did  not  join  any 
other  organized  body.  His  wife,  who  had  also  been  converted 
about  a  year  later  at  a  Free  Methodist  camp-meeting,  wanted 
to  join  that  church  but  did  not  do  so  because  Mr.  Currier  would 
not  join.  Mr.  Currier  said  that  he  considered  the  Free  Meth- 
odists the  best,  as  they  did  not  admit  members  into  church 
fellowship  until  they  were  converted.     They  also  taught  holi- 


81 

ness,  and  that  the  members  should  live  pure  and  holy  in  the 
present  world.  Wife  said  that  was  just  the  kind  of  a  class  she 
wished  to  see  organized  and  asked  us  to  take  a  paper  around 
and  ascertain  the  number  that  were  willing  to  join  such  an  or- 
ganization. We  found  six,  but  as  Mr.  Currier  did  not  decide  to 
join  we  let  the  matter  rest  for  a  time.  Several  days  later  Mr, 
Currier  was  a  caller  at  our  home,  and  the  subject  of  the  class 
came  up  again.  After  considerable  solicitation  on  the  part  of 
my  wife  he  decided  to  put  his  name  down  as  one  of  the  mem- 
bers. This  made  seven  on  the  roll,  three  men  and  four  women. 
Mr.  Currier  then  said  he  would  send  to  McCook  county  for  a 
Free  Methedist  minister  to  come  and  organize  the  class.  He 
also  wrote  to  Elder  J.  B.  Freeland,  chairman  of  the  Iowa  and 
South  Dakota  conference  of  the  Free  Methodist  church.  With- 
in two  weeks  he  received  an  answer  from  Mr.  Freeland,  stating 
that  he  would  visit  us  on  the  first  of  April.  He  came  and  was 
a  guest  at  our  home.  He  asked  if  it  was  the  intention  to  or- 
ganize a  Free  Methodist  class,  and  my  wife  answered  that  she 
had  been  led  to  organize  the  work  into  a  body.  He  then  said 
that  he  did  not  know  whether  we  could  stand  the  rules  of  the 
Free  Methodist  church  or  not,  as  they  were  very  straight.  Wife 
asked  him  if  they  were  any  straighter  than  the  Bible.  He  said 
no,  but  that  all  churches  did  not  hold  their  members  to  Bible 
truths,  as  theirs  did. 

Saturday  night  Mr.  Freeland  preached  in  the  school  house. 
Sunday  morning  at  ten  o'clock  he  preached  again.  A  large 
crowd  was  present  to  hear  him.  He  spoke  with  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  our  souls  were  fed  the  bread  of  life. 
After  the  sermon  was  ended  a  short  speaking  meeting  was  held, 
after  which*he  called  those  who  wished  to  join  the  class  forward. 


■    82 

He  then  asked  if  we  had  the  witness  that  our  sins  were  forgiven, 
and  all  answered  yes.  His  next  question  was,  "Have  you  re- 
ceived the  blessing  of  a  pure  heart  since  you  were  converted?" 
Some  answered  that  they  had  and  others  that  they  had  not. 
He  then  asked  if  they  were  seeking  it,  and  all  answered  yes. 
He  said  that  all  members  of  the  class  must  give  up  tobacco, 
ruffles,  laces,  ribbons,  tucks,  flowers,  feathers,  neckties,  silks, 
plug  hats,  and  all  kinds  of  secret  societies,  strong  drinks,  gold 
and  costly  apparel. 

Wife  and  I  had  not  received  any  teaching  upon  plain  dress 
so  our  clothes  were  very  fashionable  and  worldly  for  the  use  of 
holy  people.  Wife  had  to  take  several  of  her  dresses  to  pieces 
and  to  remove  the  trimming  from  others,  but  by  so  doing  she 
gained  one  or  two  dresses.  Our  hearts  were  prepared  to  re- 
ceive the  whole  truth,  and  also  to  walk  in  the  light  that  may 
shine  in  our  pathway.  The  Bible  does  not  say  anything  about 
fine  clothes  but  it  does  say  that  we  should  not  adorn  our  bodies 
with  gold  or  costly  apparel.  The  writer  knows  from  a  blessed 
experience  that  every  one  that  hears  the  Holy  Ghost  teaching 
on  fashionable  and  worldly  dress  cannot  become  converted 
until  they  are  willing  to  give  up  their  fine  and  fashionable 
dress.  The  class  was  organized  with  Mr.  John  as  leader.  Wife 
received  license  to  preach  April  15th,  1886. 


83 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

t^*    (£*    (^* 

MEETING    AT    THE    HALVERSON    SCHOOL    HOUSE 

Wife  decided  to  hold  meetings  at  the  Halverson  school 
house,  and  on  Sunday  had  the  Sunday  school  superintendent  an- 
nounce that  a  meeting  would  be  held  there  on  the  following  Mon- 
day evening.  On  the  opening  night  a  good  crowd  was  in  attend- 
ance. The  greater  number  of  people  in  that  neighborhood  were 
Norwegians  and  Swedes.  The  meeting  opened  with  singing, 
after  which  Mr.  Currier  read  a  short  lesson  from  Luke's  gos- 
pel. Wife  took  her  text  from  the  lesson  read  and  had  much 
liberty  and  freedom  in  talking  to  the  people.  It  was  a  good 
meeting.  At  the  close  she  announced  that  there  would  be 
meeting  every  night  and  all  were  invited  to  attend,  and  also  to 
tell  their  neighbors.  The  attendance  increased  every  night. 
Soon  wife  asked  that  a  mourner's  bench  might  be  prepared, 
but  Mr.  Currier  hesitated  somewhat  and  asked  her  if  she 
thought  there  would  be  need  of  one.  She  said  she  thought 
there  would. 

The  first  night  there  was  a  little  excitement  in  the  back 
part  of  the  room.  It  was  occasioned  by  a  Norwegian  who  was 
under  deep  conviction,  but  who  did  not  know  how  to  express 
himself.     So  he  broke  out  into  loud  laughter.     After  my  wife 


84 

was  through  preaching  she  went  back  to  talk  to  him,  but  could 
not  make  him  understand.  However,  he  kept  on  laughing. 
The  meeting  continued  all  that  week.  On  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day nights  there  was  not  seeking  room  in  the  house.  Sunday 
night  after  my  wife  was  through  preaching  she  gave  everyone 
an  opportunity  to  speak.  A  great  many  took  part,  and  a  large 
number  were  under  deep  conviction,  but  did  not  come  forward 
to  the  altar.  One  woman  and  the  Norwegian  who  laughed  so 
loud  were  converted.  My  wife  announced  that  she  was  unde- 
cided as  to  whether  the  meeting  should  be  held  longer  or  not, 
but  announced  that  one  would  be  held  the  next  evening,  when 
it  would  be  announced  whether  they  would  continue  or  not. 
After  the  audience  was  dismissed  two  or  three  young  men  were 
talking  concerning  the  happenings  of  the  evening,  when  one 
spoke  to  an  elderly  man,  named  Durkey,  standing  near,  and 
said:  "Mr.  Durkey,  they  hit  you  pretty  hard  in  the  speaking 
meeting  to-night."  Mr.  Durkey  inquired  as  to  what  was  said 
and  they  told  him  various  persons  had  spoken  in  regard  to  the 
old  men  being  converted.  Such  was  the  case,  but  there  were 
several  old  men  in  the  meeting  and  the  remarks  had  been  made 
in  a  general  way  and  with  reference  to  one  in  particular.  How- 
ever, it  angered  Mr.  Durkey  and  he  said  he  would  stop  the 
meeting  those  niggers  were  running.  The  next  morning  he 
saddled  his  horse  and  rode  around  to  all  the  voters  living  in 
that  school  district  to  get  them  to  sign  a  protest  against  hold- 
ing the  meeting  in  the  school  house.  He  said  we  were  burning 
the  oil  that  had  been  procured  for  use  by  the  school,  and 
through  his  persuasion  most  of  the  voters  in  the  district  signed 
the  protest  prepared  by  him.  He  then  went  to  the  director 
and  wanted  the  key,  but  the  director  told  him  he  was  in  the 


85 

wrong  and  would  not  let  him  have  the  key.  Mr.  Durkey  in- 
sisted, however,  that  he  would  lock  up  the  school  house  after 
school  was  out.  The  director  warned  him  that  he  should  not 
do  so,  but  he  went  at  once  to  the  school  house  and  arrived 
there  just  as  school  was  out  and  the  children  were  fixing  the 
fire  ready  for  the  evening  meeting.  Taking  the  key  from  the 
children  he  ordered  them  out  of  the  building,  put  the  chairs, 
table  and  benches  out  on  the  platform,  then  locked  the  door 
and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 

That  evening  my  wife  said  that  she  wished  to  go  to  the 
school  house  early,  so  we  started  about  half-past  five  o'clock. 
She  stopped  at  Mr.  Halverson's,  while  I  went  over  to  the 
school  house  to  get  everything  in  readiness  for  the  meeting. 
Noticing  the  furniture  outside  the  door  and  several  children 
standing  near  I  asked  what  it  meant.  They  answered  that  Mr. 
Durkey  had  put  them  there  but  they  did  not  know  why  he  did 
so,  except  that  he  did  not  want  meetings  held  there  any  more. 
I  asked  if  Mr.  Durkey  had  gone  home,  and  they  said  he  had 
gone  to  Mr.  Halverson's.  Going  to  Mr.  Halverson's  I  found 
Mr.  Durkey  and  asked  him  why  he  had  locked  the  school  house 
door.  He  said  that  he  did  not  intend  for  us  to  held  any  more 
meetings  there  and  expose  him  before  all  the  people.  I  asked 
how  we  had  exposed  him,  and  he  said  by  telling  him  he  was  an 
old  man  and  ought  to  be  converted.  After  expostulating  with 
him  for  some  time  and  finding  he  was  firm  in  his  decision  that 
there  should  be  no  meeting  I  told  him  he  would  at  some  time 
be  sorry  for  his  action.  We  at  once  began  to  make  prepara- 
tions to  return  home.  On  our  way  we  met  several  loads  of 
people  coming  and  informed  them  that  there  would  be  no 
meeting  and  told  the  reason  why.     All  were  very  sorry.     Mr. 


86 

Halverson  said  a  few  days  afterward  that  a  large  crowd  came, 
some  from  eight  or  nine  miles  distant,  and  all  condemned  the 
action  of  Mr.  Durkey  very  much.  He  would  not  have  locked 
the  school  house  door  had  he  remembered  the  good  book  says : 
"Whosoever  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  in 
me,  it  were  better  that  a  mill  stone  be  hanged  about  his  neck." 
The  interruption  of  the  meeting  was  the  talk  of  the  entire 
neighborhood  for  several  weeks. 

About  three  weeks  later,  about  six  o'clock  one  evening,  a 
stranger  passed  our  house.  He  was  a  very  rough  looking  man 
and  was  poorly  dressed.  He  did  not  stop  at  our  house  but 
went  to  the  next  neighbor's  and  begged  bread,  until  he  came  to 
Mr.  Durkey's  house,  which  was  the  fourth  one  from  ours. 
There  they  gave  him  his  supper  and  he  went  on  his  way  rejoic- 
ing. After  supper  Mr.  Durkey  finished  his  work  and  after 
reading  for  a  time  retired  to  his  bed.  He  had  safely  locked  his 
barn  and  left  everything  in  good  shape.  Between  twelve  and 
one  o'clock  he  was  awakened  by  a  strange  noise,  and  going  to 
to  the  door  saw  that  his  barn  was  all  in  flames.  When  he  and 
his  men  reached  the  barn  it  was  so  far  gone  that  nothing  was 
saved  except  one  horse,  and  it  was  burned  so  badly  that  after- 
ward it  had  to  be  shot.  The  family  decided  that  the  stranger 
had  fired  the  barn  but  he  was  never  heard  of  again.  Next 
morning  people  came  from  many  miles  around  to  see  the  ruins 
Mr.  Durkey  confessed  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  stopping  the 
meeting  and  all  the  people  agreed  with  him.  Afterward  his 
wife  separated  from  him,  his  son  left  home,  and  he  was  left  all 
alone  in  his  trouble.  He  believed  that  this  had  corne  upon  him 
because  he  had  stopped  the  meeting.  His  whole  family  was 
broken  up  and  he  lost  everything  he  had.     His  farm  was  sold 


87 

and  he  came  very  near  being  killed  with  a  horse  so  he  had  a 
bitter  experience  in  trying  to  interfere  with  the  work  of  the 
Lord. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

^?*        fc?*       ((?• 

LEAVING    THE    FARM. 

In  1885  and  1886  we  lost  part  of  our  crops  by  drouth  and 
early  frost.  In  1887  we  put  in  a  larger  crop  than  we  had  ever 
done  before.  We  put  in  ninety  acres  of  wheat,  corn,  flax  and 
oats.  Harvesting  commenced  on  the  flrstof  July.  We  had 
cut  our  oats  and -five  acres  of  wheat.  The  balance  of  the  wheat 
was  not  ready  to  cut  and  would  not  be  for  four  or  five  days. 
In  the  meantime  a  friend  who  had  no  binder  asked  us  to  come 
over  and  cut  his  wheat  and  in  return  he  would  help  harvest 
ours  when  it  was  ready.  We  talked  the  matter  over  and  con- 
cluded that  I  could  go  over  and  cut  for  him  for  two  or  three 
days  at  least,  and  as  our  crop  was  very  large  his  help  in  return 
would  serve  us  well.  I  went  and  was  at  his  place  three  days 
and  nights.  On  the  third  day  there  came  a  heavy  hail  storm. 
Our  crop  was  directly  in  its  path  and  was  nearly  all  destroyed. 
The  following  morning  when  I  went  home  my  wife  met  me  and 
said  that  she  had  been  all  over  the  farm  and  that  there  was  but 


little  of  the  crops  left.  I  told  her  that  I  did  not  know  what 
we  should  do  as  this  was  the  third  crop  to  be  destroyed.  I 
went  over  the  fields  and  it  was  a  sorrowful  sight  to  see  such  a 
fine  crop  of  wheat  almost  entirely  whipped  out  by  the  storm. 
I  cut  and  cared  for  what  was  standing  and  from  the  wheat, oats 
and  all  got  about  three  hundred  bushels.  Our  corn  was  nearly 
all  destroyed  and  our  garden  crops  were  almost  pounded  into 
the  ground  by  the  hail. 

We  submitted  to  it  without  a  murmur  or  complaint.  We 
figured  our  debts  and  found  they  amounted  to  seven  hundred 
dollars,  most  all  of  which  fell  due  that  fall.  What  to  do  we 
did  not  know,  as  we  had  no  grain  for  seed  and  but  very  little 
for  bread,  and  could  not  borrow  any  more  money.  We  did  all 
our  fall  plowing  for  the  spring  crops,  but  said  little  about  our 
troubles.  One  day  in  the  latter  part  of  October  I  was  on  my 
way  to  Bancroft,  a  little  town  on  the  railroad  about  one  and  a 
half  miles  from  our  farm,  for  the  purpose  of  having  my  plow 
sharpened,  when  an  impression  came  to  me  that  I  must  move 
to  Huron,  where  our  oldest  son  was  barbering.  Huron  was 
thirty  miles  south  of  our  farm,  and  the  county  seat  of  Beadle 
county.  It  is  located  on  the  James  river  and  at  that  time  had 
a  population  of  about  8,100.  After  returning  home  I  told  wife 
what  had  come  to  me  and  that  the  best  thing  we  could  do 
would  be  to  go  to  Huron.  She  asked  if  it  was  the  intention  to 
sell  the  farm,  and  I  told  her  that  I  had  thought  nothing 
about  that.  She  said  she  did  not  see  how  we  could  leave  the 
farm  without  selling  it.  I  told  her  we  would  consider  the 
matter  and  do  what  we  thought  best  for  us.  I  talked  with 
several  of  the  neighbors  and  all  said  we  had  better  not  leave 
the  farm.     One  day  while  in  the  county  seat  I   asked  a  friend 


89 

of  ours  about  the  matter  and  he  said  we  had  better  borrow  seed 
a,nd  keep  our  farm.  I  told  him  we  could  borrow  no  grain  as 
we  had  no  money  with  which  to  procure  other  grain  to  pay 
it  back.  When  I  returned  home  I  told  wife  I  thought  it  best 
to  sell  everything  on  the  farm  except  our  house  and  furniture. 
She  wished  time  to  think  the  matter  over.  In  a  few  days  Mr. 
Currier  came  to  our  house  and  among  other  things  told  my 
wife  that  she  would  regret  the  day  we  left  the  farm.  In  a  day 
or  two  afterwards  she  told  me  what  Mr.  Currier  had  said,  but 
I  told  her  I  could  see  no  way  out  of  our  difficulty,  except  to 
sell  off  our  goods.  She  then  said  that  I  could  do  just  as  I 
thought  best,  but  that  she  wanted  to  retain  one  horse  and  a 
cow.  We  then  decided  to  leave  the  farm  and  move  to  Huron. 
On  the  15th  of  February,  1888,  I  had  the  bills  printed  for  a 
public  sale,  to  be  held  on  the  7th  of  March.  The  day  of  the 
sale  was  a  fair  one  and  a  large  crowd  was  in  attendance.  The 
sale  commenced  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  by  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  everything  had  been  sold.  After  our 
debts  had  been  paid  we  had  nothing  left  but  our  household 
goods.  In  ten  days  after  the  sale  all  business  matters  had  been 
arranged  and  on  the  17th  of  March,  1888,  we  arrived  in  Huron 
and  stopped  with  our  married  son  for  a  few  days  before  going 
to  housekeeping. 


90 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

&?*    c£*     t^* 

OUR  HOME  IN    HURON. 

There  were  six  churches  in  the  city,  but  Christianity  was 
nothing  but  a  form.  As  we  were  members  of  the  Free  Metho- 
dist church  we  did  not  confine  ourselves  to  any  one  of  the 
churches  in  the  city  but  attended  all.  In  the  city  we  found 
one  or  two  colored  families  and  eight  or  nine  single  persons. 
My  wife  determined  at  length  to  ask  Mrs.  McDonald  if  we 
might  not  have  prayer  meeting  at  her  house,  and  she  said  she 
would  be  very  glad  to  have  us  to  do  so.  She  sent  word  to  all 
the  colored  people  and  the  meeting  was  held  during  the  first 
week  in  April.  Afterwards  we  held  several  prayer  meetings  at 
the  same  place.  Mrs.  McDonald's  husband  was  an  old  man, 
about  sixty-five  or  seventy  years  of  age,  and  very  wicked.  He 
was  converted  in  one  of  our  meetings.  Others  were  under  deep 
conviction,  but  did  not  yield.  Mrs.  McDonald  professed  to  be 
a  Christian,  but  she  did  not  know  anything  about  practical 
Godliness  She  was  much  worse  than  the  younger  people  in 
worldly  form.  Her  husband  died  a  year  and  a  half  after  his 
conversion. 

We  held  the  prayer  meeting  only  a  short  time,  as  they 
were  soon  tired  of  attending  regularly.     We  then  attended  the 


91 

class  meeting  at  the  Methodist  church,  which  was  held  every 
Sunday  morning.  Only  a  few  of  the  older  members  attended 
the  class,  and  there  was  no  life  nor  power  in  it,  only  dead  form. 
I  attended  the  Sunday  school,  until  a  string  band  was  brought 
in  to  make  music.  Then  it  became  a  place  for  entertainment 
of  pride,  and  a  show.  This  only  serves  to  blind  the  minds  of 
the  young,  so  that  they  do  not  know  the  true  object  of  the  Sun- 
day school.  It  is  very  sad  indeed  to  witness  how  far  the  pres- 
ent generation  is  drifting  away  from  the  simple  method  of 
teaching  to  the  children  the  way  of  eternal  life.  There  is  very 
little  hope  for  improvement  in  teaching  when  the  teachers 
themselves  know  very  little  or  nothing  about  the  way  of  eternal 
life,  either  by  experience  or  mental  knowledge.  They  can  not 
impart  that  of  which  they  have  no  knowledge  themselves. 
The  Sunday  school  of  this  present  time  has  become  so  worldly 
that  the  children  think  of  it  only  as  a  place  to  go  to  be  amused 
and  show  their  fine  clothes. 

The  first  revival  meeting  we  attended  in  the  Methodist 
church  was  conducted  by  a  young  Evangelist  whose  home  was 
in  Canada.  H.  H.  Dresser  was  pastor  of  the  church.  The 
young  Evangelist  was  limited  in  educational  attainments,  but 
after  his  conversion  he  had  been  called  to  preach.  He  led  the 
meetings  two  or  three  evenings,  when  the  official  members  of 
the  church  became  very  much  displeased  with  him.  The 
officials  were  the  well  to  do  persons  in  the  church,  and  it  did 
not  please  them  to  be  told  that  they  must  be  converted.  They 
complained  to  the  pastor,  saying  that  the  Evangelist  did  not 
come  up  to  their  ideas,  and  that  it  was  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  church  to  close  the  meeting.  This  did  not  meet  with  the 
approval  of  the  pastor,  who  desired  to  give  the  young  man 


92 

further  trial,  but  the  officers  insisted  that  the  meetings  close. 
The  pastor  knew  that  the  persons  who  objected  to  the  meetings 
were  the  ones  who  contributed  most  liberally  to  the  support  of 
the  church,  and,  regretfully,  he  closed  the  meeting.  The 
Evangelist  was  given  his  pay,  and  allowed  to  go  to  other  fields 
where  his  work  was  more  acceptable,  and  no  souls  were  saved 
that  winter. 

In  the  fall  of  1889  the  conference  sent  Rev.  H.  H.  Dresser 
back  to  the  church  for  the  third  successive  year.  Soon  after 
the  holidays  had  passed  the  pastor  called  the  official  board  of 
the  church  together  to  make  arrangements  to  hold  revival 
meetings.  It  was  arranged  that  the  meetings  should  be  held 
by  the  pastor  himself,  with  the  aid  of  the  presiding  elder  and 
ministers  from  other  churches.  The  first  meeting  was  held  the 
middle  of  January  and  there  were  meetings  for  three  or  four 
weeks.  Several  ministers  and  the  presiding  elder  came,  but 
could  do  no  good,  as  the  members  were  nearly  all  dead  spirit- 
ually. The  ministers  themselves  had  little  of  the  power  of  God 
upon  them,  and  therefore  could  not  wake  many  of  the  mem- 
bers from  their  careless  condition.  The  meetings  closed.  One 
old  man,  who  had  been  a  backslider  for  thirty  or  forty  years, 
was  reclaimed.  He  joined  the  church  without  having  been  con- 
verted. So  the  best  two  years  of  Rev.  Dresser's  pastorate  was 
a  failure,  so  far  as  the  salvation  of  souls  is  concerned.  What 
was  the  cause  of  his  failure?  The  answer  is  that,  like  most  of 
the  preachers  of  the  present  day,  he  was  preaching  without  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  a  desire  to  please  the  rich 
church  members.  It  is  very  sad,  indeed,  to  see  Christian 
churches  drifting  into  this  state,  but,  nevertheless,  it  is  true, 
and  every  true  man  and  woman  must  admit  it   to  be  a   fact. 


93 

The  word  of  God  says,  "In  the  last  days  they  shall  wax  worse 
and  worse  deceiving  and  being  deceived."  But  our  dear  Lord 
has  always  had  a  few  in  all  ages  that  would  not  defile  them- 
selves with  sin,  thanks  be  unto  our  Lord,  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  over  theworld,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  through  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  fall  of  1890  conference  sent  a  new  minister  to  the 
church.  His  name  was  F.  G.  Newhouse.  He  was  heartily  re- 
ceived by  all  the  members,  and  proved  himself  a  better  preacher 
than  the  former  pastor.  In  the  early  part  of  November  he 
called  the  official  board  together  to  counsel  in  regard  to  hold- 
ing a^revival  meeting.  The  officers  told  him  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  have  a  meeting  at  that  time,  as  the  whole  city  was 
in  a  gambling  scheme  to  have  the  state  capital  located  there. 
At  the  election  held  soon  afterward  the  city  lost  the  capital, 
and  with  it  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  that  had  been  put 
into  the^gambling  scheme.  As  most  all  the  rich  church  mem- 
bers were  interested- financially  in  the  scheme  they  were  very 
sore  and  in  no  condition  to  go  into  a  revival  meeting,  and  the 
pastor  was  very  sorry  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  carry 
on  a  meeting  in  which  poor  sinners  might  find  their  Savior. 
John  Wesley,  the  founder  of  Methodism,  said  it  is  not  best  to 
make  the  rich  man  a  necessity,  but  churches  should  be  built 
large  and  plain.  Now,  however,  churches  are  constructed  on 
the  most  expensive  plans.  This  necessitates  a  large  revenue 
and  concessions  are  made  to  the  rich  in  order  to  induce  them 
to  join,  and  thus  secure  their  monetary  support.  The  result  is 
that  soon  everything  is  in  their  hands,  and  the  church  and 
pastor  are  controlled  to  suit  their  selfish  interests.  There  is  no 
time  to  work  for  the  salvation  of  souls  until  the  new  church  is 


94 

paid  for,  and  then  it  becomes  a  place  for  parade  and  show. 
'The  older  members,  who  once  enjoyed  the  life  and  power  of 
God  in  their  souls,  now  are  compelled  to  sit  and  look  on. 
This  pride  and  show  has  become  so  popular  that  many  of  the 
older  members  believe  that  this  new  order  of  things  is  all  right. 
What  a  sad  condition  the  mass  of  the  church  members  have 
fallen  into.     There  is  no  hope  for  many  of  them. 

In  1891  the  rich  members  of  the  church  became  reconciled 
to  the  loss  of  the  capital,  and  in  January  consented  to  allow 
the  pastor  to  have  a  revival  service.  The  services  of  Mrs. 
Dennis,  an  evangelist  of  Goshen,  Ind.,  was  secured  for  three 
weeks.  She  came  and  the  meeting  began  at  once.  She  was  a 
good  preacher  and  the  church  was  crowded  every  night.  She 
preached  very  strongly  on  the  subject  of  conversion,  and  deeply 
impressed  many  of  the  church  members.  Several  asked  what 
it  meant  to  be  converted.  One  evening  she  preached  on  the 
subject  of  conversion,  and  before  her  talk  was  ended  many  of 
the  members  found  that  they  had  never  been  converted.  She 
also  held  several  meetings  for  the  special  purpose  of  preaching 
on  the  subject  of  holiness.  In  these  meetings  very  few  re- 
ceived any  benefit,  as  few  understood  anything  about  conver- 
sion. The  meeting  closed,  and  the  pastor  stated  that  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  had  professed  conversion.  Nearly  all 
of  them  united  with  the  church.  Oh!  how  sad  to  see  these 
poor  souls  so  deceived,  knowing  nothing  about  being  born 
again.  The  blood  of  the  people  will  be  required  at  the  hands 
of  the  watchman  who  does  not  warn  them  faithfully. 


95 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

«<?*     t2&      e£* 

OUR    HOME    IN    LIMA   AGAIN. 

Huron  failed  in  her  efforts  to  be  created  the  capital  of  the 
State  of  South  Dakota,  and  this  caused  a  large  exodus  of  its 
citizens  to  other  places.  Had  Huron  secured  the  capital  there 
would  have  been  a  great  boom,  but  failing  in  this,  great  dis- 
appointment was  caused.  As  we  had  lost  everything,  we  con- 
cluded to  move  elsewhere,  but  could  not  decide  as  to  our  fu- 
ture location.  My  wife  had  two  sisters  living  and  did  not  wish 
to  move  further  away  from  them.  I  was  undecided  as  to  where 
we  should  go,  but  both  of  us  were  determined  to  leave  Huron. 
Several  days  later  I  wrote  to  a  friend  in  West  Superior,  a  real 
estate  man  who  had  gone  there  from  Huron.  He  knew  the 
line  of  work  I  followed  and  wrote  that  West  Superior  was  an 
advantageous  point  for  me.  We  talked  the  matter  over  several 
times,  and  at  last  I  proposed  that  my  wife  and  Prince  should 
go  to  their  old  home  in  Ohio,  while  I  would  go  to  West  Su- 
perior and  have  a  home  ready  for  them  in  the  fall,  at  which 
time  they  should  join  me.  While  my  wife  thought  the  ar- 
rangement a  very  good  one,  yet  she  did  not  assent  to  it,  but 
said  she  would  consider  it.  A  few  days  later,  while  I  was 
walking  along  the  streets  of  Huron,  the  thought  came  rushing 


96 

into  my  mind  as  loud  and  clear  as  though  some  one  had  spoken 
to  me,  that  Lima  was  the  best  place  for  me  to  go  to.  I  did  not 
tell  my  thoughts  to  my  wife  for  several  days,  but  it  kept 
recurring  to  my  mind  all  the  time.  At  length  I  told  wife  about 
it.  Her  first  inquiry  was  as  to  where  the  money  Avould  come 
from  to  enable  us  to  make  the  trip.  I  answered  that  the  Lord 
would  open  the  way  for  me  to  earn  the  money.  This  was  in 
February.  Wife  said  very  little  to  me  about  it,  as  she  did  not 
want  to  make  Lima  her  home  again.  She  prayed  over  the  mat- 
ter for  several  days,  and  at  length  became  reconciled  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  the  will  of  the  Lord  that  we  should  move  back 
to  Lima.  Afterward  she  told  me  that  the  Lord  made  it  very 
plain  to  her,  revealing  just  what  we  were  to  do.  While  in 
prayer  she  was  told  that  our  mission  was  to  go  back  to  Lima 
and  establish  there  the  real  work  of  Bible  holiness,  as  a  second 
work  of  grace  received  in  the  heart  of  every  one  after  their  con- 
version. This  had  not  been  taught  in  Lima  for  six  or  seven 
years.  When  we  moved  west  in  1883  we  left  two  bands  of 
holiness  people,  one  in  the  Trinity  M.  E.  church  and  the  other 
in  the  A.  M.  E.  church.  The  former  was  held  at  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Hart,  but  after  her  death  it  ceased  to  meet,  and  the  latter 
also  had  disbanded.  The  subject  of  holiness,  so  far  as  organ- 
ized bands  were  concerned,  had  ceased  to  be  taught  in  Lima. 

We  at  once  began  the  preparations  for  moving,  selling  a 
great  share  of  our  household  goods.  By  the  second  week  in 
April  we  were  ready  to  make  the  start,  and  on  the  fifteenth 
day  of  that  month  we  were  on  our  way  back  to  Ohio.  We 
stopped  and  visited  with  an  old  friend  for  about  two  weeks  and 
arrived  in  Lima  the  latter  part  of  the  month. 


97 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Ci£*  «^*  feT* 

LIMA  AGAIN  OUR  HOME. 

We  arrived  in  Lima  via  the  C.  &  E.  railroad  on  the  29th 
of  April,  1891.  During  our  eight  years  of  absence  we  found 
that  many  changes  had  taken  place.  The  oil  industry  had  in- 
creased the  population,  and  instead  of  the  village  we  had  left 
we  found  a  city.  We  were  made  to  feel  very  sad  that  Chris- 
tianity had  fallen  into  such  a  low  state.  We  attended  the  A. 
M.  E.  church,  with  which  we  had  formerly  been  connected,  the 
first  Sunday  after  our  arrival,  and  were  very  much  surprised  to 
see  the  small  congregation  at  the  morning  service.  After 
preaching,  class  meeting  was  held,  but  we  soon  saw  that  the 
strong  power  that  had  reigned  supreme  formerly  had  been 
blotted  out.  We  attended  this  church  all  summer,  excepting 
during  three  weeks  when  we  were  visiting  in  Kentucky,  Louis- 
ville and  Goshen,  the  former  being  the  place  where  my  wife 
was  born  and  raised. 

After  an  absence  of  thirty  years  she  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  once  more  the  log  house  in  which  she  was  bora.  We 
walked  about  the  plantation  and  saw  many  places  where  she 
played  in  her  childhood  days.  We  went  down  to  the  old  grave- 
yard where  her  only  brother  and  two  of  her  sisters  were  buried, 


98 

and  also  visited  the  grave  of  her  former  mistress.  The  old 
plantation  had  not  been  worked  for  many  years  and  had  grown 
up  into  bushes  and  weeds.  We  found  a  number  of  the  old 
fruit  trees,  still  bearing,  and  gathered  a  few  peaches  and  pears 
to  take  home  with  us.  We  met  some  of  the  old  residents,  who 
were  living  the  same  as  in  days  of  old.  Some  who  had  been 
children  with  her,  and  many  of  her  relatives  were  yet  living  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Our  visit  to  Kentucky  was  a  very  pleasant  one  indeed. 
The  boat  in  which  we  made  the  trip  from  Cincinnati  to  Louis- 
ville was  one  of  the  largest  that  traversed  the  Ohio  river.  The 
ride  was  a  delightful  one.  We  had  the  privilege  of  eating  two 
meals  on  the  boat,  supper  and  breakfast.  The  state  room  in 
which  we  spent  the  night  was  nicely  furnished.  The  thirty 
years  that  had  elapsed  since  my  wife  came  on  a  boat  to  Cin- 
cinnati had  wrought  a  great  change.  Then  colored  people 
were  not  allowed  in  the  cabin,  but  were  compelled  to  sleep 
among  the  horses  and  cattle.  Only  as  servants  to  white  pas- 
sengers were  they  allowed  to  enter  the  cabin.  That  spirit  has 
not  yet  all  passed  away  but  is  more  noticeable  in  some  places 
than  others.  After  visiting  for  three  weeks  we  started  for  home 
over  the  same  route  we  had  taken  in  coming.  We  left  Louis- 
ville at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  owing  to  a  heavy  peach 
crop  and  numberless  stops  to  take  the  fruit  on  board,  Ave  were 
five  hours  late  in  arriving  at  Cincinnati.  From  there  we  took 
the  C.  H.  &  D.  railroad  for  Lima,  where  we  arrived  at  8:30 
a.  m. 

We  had  been  stopping  with  Mrs.  A.  Byrd,  my  wife's 
sister,  but  in  a  few  days  we  moved  into  a  new  house  on  South 
Baxter  street,  and  in  a  short  time  were  housekeeping  again. 


99 

My  wife  then  suggested  that  it  would  he  well  to  hold  a  few  cot- 
tage prayer  meetings.  I  heartily  approved  of  her  plan,  as  so 
few  attended  the  regular  prayer  meetings  at  the  church.  The 
first  meeting  was  held  at  our  house,  and  only  a  few  were  there. 
The  next  meeting  was  held  at  her  sisters  and  no  one  came. 
Then  one  was  held  on  Spring  street,  with  the  same  result.  On 
our  return  home  from  this  meeting  my  wife  asked  me  what  I 
thought  of  it.  I  answered  that  the  people  did  not  care  for 
praying,  nor  did  they  care  to  attend  a  meeting  appointed  for 
prayer.  We  finally  gave  up  cottage  prayer  meetings,  but 
regularly  attended  those  held  at  the  church.  These  were 
gradually  losing  all  interest.  The  pastor  would  open  the  doors 
of  the  church  for  members  every  Sunday,  but  we  thought  it 
best  not  to  join.  At  length  I  decided  to  have  a  talk  with  the 
pastor  on  the  subject  of  holiness,  which  was  our  theme  with 
all  men,  for  without  holiness  of  heart  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.  One  Sunday  afternoon  I  spent  a  few  hours  with  the 
pastor  discussing  different  subjects  in  the  Bible.  He  did  not 
know  anything  about  holiness,  as  experience  meant  knowledge. 
He  believed  that  a  person  would  grow  better  and  better,  and 
just  before  death  the  Lord  would  make  them  holy.  The  word 
of  God  says:  "I  am  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  liv- 
ing." According  to  this,  then,  all  the  blessings  that  God  has 
promised  to  men  are  in  the  present  time.  They  do  not  mean 
to-morrow,  or  the  next  day,  nor  just  before  we  die,  but  to-day. 
The  word  says:  "Behold  this  day  is  the  day  of  salvation." 
If  any  man  hears  the  voice  of  God  calling  him  to  repentance 
the  heart  should  not  be  hardened,  as  it  may  be  the  last  call. 
Finally,  I  said  to  the  pastor  that  I  would  not  join  the  chu  g  h 
just  then,  but  would  wait  on  the  Lord.  He  thought  that  the 
best  thing  to  do,  and  nothing  more  was  said.  We  continued 
attending  the  church  until  the  fall  of  1891. 


100 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

c£*  tfi*         t£& 

THE     ORGANIZATION    OF     THE    FIRST     HOLINESS     MEETING   IN    LIMA, 

OHIO. 

One  day  in  November,  while  we  were  talking  about  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  city,  wife  proposed  that  a  letter  be 
written  to  Brother  Thomas  K.  Doty,  of  Cleveland,  inviting 
him  to  come  or  send  some  one  to  hold  a  series  of  meetings  out- 
side of  any  church.  Mr.  Doty  was  editor  of  the  Christian 
Harvester,  published  at  Cleveland,  and  a  personal  friend  of 
ours.  The  invitation  was  sent  and  in  reply  he  told  us  to  write 
to  Rev.  Hiram  Archers,  of  Big  Pines,  Ohio.  We  did  so  and  he 
sent  us  Testimony  Stewart,  of  Bellefontaine,  her  son  Elmer, 
Mrs.  Dunmire,  of  Bucyrus,  and  W.  E.  Williams,  of  Versailles, 
O.  Mrs.  Stewart  was  leader  of  the  meetings.  The  rest  came 
as  assistants.  Our  first  meeting  was  held  November  15,  1892, 
in  the  teacher's  examination  room  in  the  court  house.  As  this 
was  too  noisy  a  place  we  only  met  there  a  few  times.  A  room 
in  the  old  street  car  barn  which  had  been  arranged  for  mission 
work  was  then  occupied.  The  members  of  the  mission  only 
allowed  us  to  meet  there  one  night.  The  next  place  of  meet- 
ing was  in  an  old  vacant  house  on  West  Spring  street,  which 
was  very  much  torn  up.     The  owner  agreed  to  rent  it  to  us  for 


101 

five  dollars  a  month,  and  we  accepted  the  offer.  We  had  no 
money  to  pay  the  first  month's  rent,  neither  had  we  enough 
to  furnish  it  with  heat  and  light.  We  did  not  know  what  to  do. 
We  knew  that  the  Lord  had  led  us  thus  far,  and  we  also  knew 
that  it  was  the  will  of  the  Lord  that  the  meetings  should  con- 
tinue until  His  whole  truth  was  established  in  this  city. 

As  all  four  of  the  workers  were  stopping  at  my  house,  I 
went  to  my  work  the  following  morning  with  a  heavy  burden 
on  my  heart  concerning  the  work.  About  eight  o'clock  Mr. 
Williams,  one  of  the  workers,  came  to  me  and  asked  if  I  was 
well  known  in  the  city.  I  answered  that  I  was.  He  then  sug- 
gested that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  lake  a  subscription  paper 
around  among  the  business  men  and  ask  them  to  assist  in 
carrying  on  the  work  of  the  Lord.  I  told  him  that  I  did  not 
care  to  write  up  such  a  paper,  so  he  agreed  to  do  it,  with  the 
understanding  that  myself  and  wife  should  sign  it.  When  I 
returned  home  in  the  evening  he  had  the  paper  ready,  and  the 
next  day,  Friday,  I  started  out  with  it.  I  was  undecided  as  to 
whom  I  should  approach  first,  but  finally  decided  that  the  man 
for  whom  I  was  working  was  the  proper  person.  I  handed  him 
the  paper.  He  kindly  read  it  over,  approved  of  it,  and  handed 
me  a  dollar  to  start  with.  By  the  evening  of  the  following  day 
we  had  money  enough  to  supply  all  our  needs,  and  on  Satur- 
day evening  had  our  first  meeting  in  our  church.  We  con- 
tinued until  the  latter  part  of  January,  1893,  and  at  the  close 
seven  of  us  organized  ourselves  into  a  holiness  band.  We  held 
regular  services  on  Sunday,  and  prayer  meeting  on  Wednesday 
evening.  We  were  instructed  to  send  to  J.  S.  Robinson,  of 
Union  City,  Ind.,  and  ask  him  to  take  charge  of  the  work.  It 
was  stated  that  he  would  be  a  great  help  to  us,  as  he  was 


102 

preaching  in  the  independent  holiness  line,  and  had  been  for 
many  years.  As  we  were  just  starting  out  in  that  line  we  were 
very  much  in  need  of  a  helper.  In  answer  to  our  request  he 
said  he  would  come  and  hold  a  ten  day's  meeting  for  us.  The 
date  of  his  arrival  was  fixed  for  March  10th.  At  the  close  of 
these  meetings  there  was  some  talk  of  buying  a  lot  and  building 
a  church.  We  inquired  into  the  matter  and  were  told  that  if 
we  were  organized  into  a  body,  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
state,  we  would  be  better  prepared  to  buy  real  estate.  We  then 
held  a  special  meeting  to  organize  ourselves  into  a  church. 
After  some  discussion  as  to  a  name,  it  was  decided  to  call  it 
the  First  Holiness  church  of  Lima,  Ohio.  This  action  was 
taken  on  the  11th  day  of  April,  1892.  The  church  was  known 
by  this  name  until  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  April.  1895,  when 
it  was  thought  best  to  change  the  name,  and  a  meeting  was 
called  to  take  action.  On  motion  the  name,  "First  Holiness 
Church  of  Lima"  was  dropped  and  in  its  place  was  substituted 
by  proper  action  "The  Mission  Church  of  Christ."  For  some 
the  place  of  meeting  had  been  in  an  old  frame  house  on  West 
High  street,  but  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  name  we  rented 
Stamet's  hall  for  our  regular  place  of  worship. 

In  the  name  of  the  Lord  we  went  forth  in  this  city  to  do 
the  very  best  we  could  in  advancing  the  practical  truths  of  the 
religion  of  the  Bible.  It  must  be  confessed  that  our  efforts 
have  been  weak  indeed,  but  knowing  no  better  we  could  do  no 
better.  Many  things  have  hindered  us  from  accomplishing  all 
that  we  desired  to  do.  Without  education,  very  few  in  num- 
bers and  poor  in  worldly  goods,  and  without  influence  among 
the  masses  of  the  church  going  people,  they  were  not  attracted 
to  our  meetings,  and  thus  our  opportunity  for   doing  good  has 


103 

been  limited.  In  olden  times  the  people  had  leaders  who 
taught  in  the  temples,  instructing  their  hearers  in  the  various 
forms  and  ceremonies.  But  when  Jesus  came  into  the  temple 
and  found  them  buying  and  selling  he  turned  over  their  money 
tables  and  drove  them  out,  on  account  of  which  they  were  ready 
to  stone  Him  and  all  His  disciples.  When  we  look  back  upon 
what  we  have  accomplished  in  our  little  work,  which  seems 
very  little  in  the  sight  of  men,  we  are  reminded  that  the  Lord 
has  said:  <;To  him  that  is  faithful  until  death  I  will  give  a 
crown  of  life."  We  are  conscious  of  the  fact  that  we  are  work- 
ing for  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls  in  the  manner  that  the 
Lord  would  have  us. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

t?*       v?*       t&& 

SHE    FEELS    THAT    HER  HUMAN  LIFE  IS  NEAR  AN  END. 

About  noon  on  the  15th  of  June,  1894,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  taken  very  sick.  When  I  arrived  home  for  dinner 
she  said  to  me  that  her  work  was  done,  and  that  she  was  going 
to  die.  She  asked  that  the  children  be  sent  for.  Our  elder 
son  and  his  family  were  living  in  Wisconsin  and  our  younger 
son  was  at  Wilberforce  College.  I  told  her  that  she  was  alarmed 
at  her  condition  and  that  she  was  not  so  sick  as  she  thought. 


104 

But  no  argument  of  mine  changed  her  opinion.  I  ate  my 
dinner  and  returned  to  my  work*,  feeling  very  sad.  As  time 
passed  by  she  continued  to  grow  worse,  although  she  was  able 
to  do  her  work  and  attend  the  meetings  all  summer.  About 
the  middle  of  September  she  had  grown  so  weak  that  she  was 
unable  to  do  the  heavier  household  duties,  and  a  month  later 
was  unable  to  do  any  work  whatever.  She  was,  however,  able 
to  be  up  every  day. 

On  the  24th  of  November  I  received  a  letter  from  C.  S. 
Hanley,  editor  of  the  "Fire  Brand,"  a  religious  paper  pub- 
lished at  Shenandoah,  Page  county,  Iowa.  We  were  close 
friends  to  him  and  his  wife  and  had  assisted  them  in  conduct- 
ing a  training  home  and  school  for  missionaries,  and  also  in  the 
publication  of  the  paper  by  donating  money  and  such  other 
help  as  we  were  able  to  give.  He  wrote  that  they  were  about 
to  start  to  New  York  with  a  band  of  missionaries,  who  were 
on  their  way  to  Africa.  I  succeeded  in  having  them  stop  at 
Dayton,  Ohio,  and  hold  meetings.  We  went  to  that  city  to  be 
present  at  the  meetings,  arriving  on  Wednesday,  November  20. 
The  meeting  was  to  begin  the  following  Saturday.  We  met 
Brother  Hanley  and  his  wife  and  the  missionaries.  The  meet- 
ings were  very  enjoyable.  There  were  eight  missionaries,  all 
young  men,  the  youngest  being  a  boy  of  sixteen  years.  They 
had  given  up  father,  mother,  sister,  brother  and  friends  and  all 
comforts  of  home,  that  they  might  go  to  heathen  lands  to  save 
poor  souls.  Two  of  them  had  been  born  in  India.  They  were 
sent  to  this  country  by  their  father,  after  the  death  of  their 
mother,  in  order  that  they  might  be  trained  for  missionaries. 
They  had  been  in  the  training  school  in  Shenandoah  for  two 
or  three  years  and  were  now  on  their  way  home  to  India  to 


105 

pend  their  lives  in  missionary  work.  Surely  the  harvest  fields 
is  great  and  the  laborers  few.  Oh  !  may  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest send  forth  more  laborers  into  fields  already  ripened  for 
the  harvest. 

We  spent  two  days  and  one  night  in  Dayton  and  then  re- 
turned home.  My  wife  did  not  get  any  better,  though  she  was 
not  confined  to  her  bed  until  the  day  before  she  died.  The 
night  before  her  death  she  was  very  sick  and  in  the  morning  her 
condition  was  alarming.  I  was  at  her  bedside  all  the  morn- 
ing. About  ten  o'clock  she  said  to  me:  "Mack,  are  you  not 
going  to  take  me  up."  I  answered,  "No."  She  then  added: 
*'It  is  so  very  dark  to-day."  About  11  o'clock  she  said  to 
those  about  her:  "I  thank  you  all  for  your  kindness.  I  am 
so  sleepy  and  will  now  go  to  sleep."  We  left  the  room  and  I 
said  to  Mrs.  Fenwick,  the  nurse,  that  I  would  go  and  do  some 
work  that  was  awaiting  me.  Giving  directions  where  to  find 
me  and  instructions  to  send  for  me  at  once  if  any  change  for 
the  worse  took  place,  I  left  the  house.  I  had  been  gone  only 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  when  she  aroused  and  said :  '  'Where's 
Mack?  He  has  not  gone  to  work,  has  he?"  She  asked  Mrs. 
Fenwick  and  some  other  ladies  who  were  present  to  assist  her 
into  a  chair.  She  was  in  the  chair  only  a  few  moments  when 
she  called  for  a  drink  of  water.  She  said  :  "Oh?  how  sweet  it 
is  to  trust  in  Jesus."  The  minister  came  in  and  said  a  few 
words  to  her  and  then  sang  a  hymn.  She  joined  in  the  singing 
and  her  voice  was  as  strong  as  ever.  The  minister  left  the 
room,  but  his  wife  remained.  About  one  o'clock  the  sufferer 
bowed  her  head.  The  minister's  wife  went  to  her  side,  lifted 
her  head,  and  found  that  the  spirit  had  taken  its  flight. 

Mrs.  Fenwick  at  once  sent  ior  me,  but  I  arrived  too  late. 


106 

She  had  passed  away  from  this  world  to  the  heavenly  kingdom 
prepared  for  her  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  I  can  truly 
say  that  during  her  entire  life  almost,  she  had  taken  hold  on 
eternal  life  and  had  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith.  And 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  her  a  crown  of  life  by  Him  who 
has  said:  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee 
a  crown  of  life."  She  is  gone  forever  to  join  the  blood-washed 
throng  who  have  passed  up  through  great  tribulation,  and 
whose  robes  have  been  washed  and  made  white  as  snow  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb. 


107 


ADDENDA. 

S<?*      5^*      (<?* 

THE    TRAINING    OF    CHILDREN. 

This  chapter  has  been  written  after  much  reflection  and 
prayer,  yet  the  writer  has  never  offered  anything  to  the  public 
with  such  a  deep  sense  of  his  inability  to  accomplish  the  work 
according  to  his  wishes.  Never  has  he  been  more  inclined  to 
accuse  himself  of  presumption,  in  attempting  a  task  beyond 
his  strength.  In  submitting  this  chapter  to  mothers  a  few 
words  of  explanation  might  be  given  as  to  the  object  in  writ- 
ing  it.  The  desire  has  been  to  give  a  little  counsel  to  mothers 
in  various  situations,  such  as  a  confidential  friend  might  im- 
part, with  full  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances  and  bold 
enough  to  speak  the  truth.  Mothers  should  know  many  things 
that  are  not  touched  on  in  sermons  or  in  a  general  way,  but 
which  affect  the  conduct  of  multitudes.  The  solemn  warnings 
given  in  the  scriptures  are  not  adhered  to  as  they  should  be, 
either  by  parents  or  children.  The  word  of  God  says :  "Train 
up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go  and  when  he  is  old  he  will 
not  depart  from  it."  In  these  days  of  hurry  and  rush  few 
parents  take  the  time  to  properly  train  their  children.  They 
fail,  in  that  they  do  not  start  in  time  to  instruct  the  children 
in  the  things  they  should  know,  and  which  would  be  of  ever- 
lasting benefit  to  them  through  time  and  eternity. 


108 

Some  one  asked  how  old  a  daughter  should  be  before  her 
mother  begins  to  instruct  her.  The  answer  is  given  :  Twenty 
years  before  the  child  is  born.  In  explanation  of  this  answer 
it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that  a  mother  should  be  well  in- 
structed in  order  that  she  may  impart  the  same  to  her  daugh- 
ter. She  should  spend  much  time  in  instructing  her  children, 
so  much  so  that  she  should  never  allow  them  to  keep  any 
secrets  from  her.  The  mother  should  be  able  in  all  actions  of 
her  children  to  show  them  the  right  and  wrong.  There  are 
many  things  the  girls  should  know  before  they  go  out  into  so- 
ciety. If  the  mothers  do  not  tell  them  at  the  proper  time, 
they  will  learn  it  from  some  one  who  is  probably  not  careful  to 
instruct  them  in  the  right  and  wrong.  The  writer  wishes  to 
impress  upon  mothers  the  necessity  of  telling  their  daughters 
everything  that  they  should  know.  Should  they  do  this  they 
will  never  be  compelled  to  look  back  with  sorrow  and  grief  be- 
cause they  failed  to  give  such  instruction  as  would  keep  them 
in  the  path  of  purity  and  righteousness. 

Boys  should  be  taught  to  live  as  pure  a  life  as  the  girls. 
Much  disgrace,  as  well  as  crime  and  sin  is  committed  among  all 
classes  of  people,  both  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low.  Possibly 
only  a  portion  of  these  will  come  to  shame  in  the  eyes  of  men, 
but  all  must  some  time  stand  before  the  judge  of  all  the  earth 
to  give  an  account  of  their  deeds,  whether  they  be  good  or  evil. 
We  live  in  such  a  fast  age  that  veiy  few  mothers  take  time  to 
tell  their  children  concerning  eternal  things,  which  would  save 
them  many  times  from  sin  and  disgrace.  The  great  responsi- 
bility rests  upon  the  mothers,  and  they  need  a  great  deal  of 
wisdom  in  order  that  they  may  give  their  children  the  best  ad- 
vice.    In  order   to  give    such   advice  there    must  be    praying 


109 

mothers.  Then  should  her  children  depart  from  the  way  in 
which  she  has  led  them  the  blame  rests  not  upon  her,  since  she 
has  done  her  whole  duty.  The  Bible  states  that  they  will  not 
depart  from  the  way. 

The  writer  humbly  hopes  that  every  mother  who  may 
chance  to  read  these  few  lines  will  take  great  pains  in  trying 
to  follow  the  advice  given.  Although  the  writer  is  only  one  in 
the  common  walks  of  life,  yet  he  has  great  sympathy  with 
mothers  who  are  training  children  for  this  life  and  that  to 
come.  Some  mothers  spend  most  of  their  time  preparing  their 
children  for  this  world.  That  is  all  right  so  far  as  it  goes,  bujb 
the  preparations  for  the  world  to  come  should  come  first.  If 
that  is  neglected  all  is  lost.  The  word  says:  "What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul." 
Great  trouble  and  sorrow  come  to  many  mothers  because  they 
do^not  begin  in  time  to  restrain  their  children  from  having 
their  own  way.  Every  child,  as  soon  as  it  can  talk,  should  be 
taught  to  mind.  Children  should  always  understand  that 
when  the  mother  says  anything  she  means  it.  Some  mothers 
will  allow  themselves  to  be  forced  to  consent  to  disobedience  on 
the  part  of  the  child  by  protracted  crying  and  screaming.  This 
is  all  wrong.  Should  a  mother  permit  such  actions  a  few  times, 
ever  .afterward  the  child  will  know  exactly  how  to  proceed  in 
gaining  its  wishes.  When  too  late,  the  mother  will  see  her 
mistake. 

Beware,  mothers!  A  hint  to  the  wise  is  sufficient.  In 
these  last  days  there  are  but  few  praying  mothers.  They  do 
everything  else  but  pray.  There  are  but  few  children  that 
have  heard  their  mother  pray  for  them.  Some  go  through  a 
form  of  prayer,  but  do  not  know  of  the  mighty  power  of  God 


110 

that  saves  a  soul  from  all  sin.  The  Bible  says  all  are  born  in 
sin,  and  it  is  safe  to  add  that  most  all  children  are  brought  up 
in  sin  and  die  in  sin.  Their  blood  will  cry  out  against  the 
parents  in  the  soon-coming  judgment.  0!  mothers,  be  wise 
and  seek  the  Lord  with  your  whole  heart,  that  you  may  be  con- 
verted, so  as  to  pray  for  your  children.  There  is  not  much 
preaching  done  these  days,  under  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  will  arouse  men  and  women  out  of  their  sleep  in  sin,  so 
that  they  may  see  their  lost  condition  and  that  their  children 
are  lost  with  them.  Children  in  these  days  know  the  Bible 
salvation,  if  their  parents  belong  to  the  church,  and  many  of 
them  think  that  they  must  join  the  church  too.  So,  therefore 
they  all  drift  along  unawakened  to  the  terrible  wrath  of  God, 
which  will  come  upon  all  that  are  not  converted  and  saved  from 
their  sins. 

Now,  let  the  parents  do  their  duty  toward  the  children. 
Then  they  will  not  need  to  look  back  in  regret  and  see  wherein 
they  have  failed  in  giving  proper  training.  And  let  the  chil- 
dren do  their  duty  toward  their  parents  in  all  things,  that  their 
days  may  be  long  upon  the  earth. 


Ill 


A  FEW  THOUGHTS  ON  MARRIAGE. 

&*        z&™        <&™ 

It  is  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  to  write  a  few  words  on  the 
subject  of  marriage,  setting  forth  the  cause  for  so  many  un- 
happy marriages.  In  the  first  place,  in  this  day  young  people 
do  not  take  long  enough  to  consider  this  holy  union  before 
entering  into  it.  When  a  young  man  begins  to  think  of  get- 
ting married  he  does  not  stop  to  think  of  anything  except  to 
get  a  wife,  and  most  all  girls  act  in  a  similar  manner.  The 
Bible  says:  "He  that  findeth  himself  a  wife  findeth  a  good 
thing  and  obtains  the  favor  of  God."  Prov.  18:  22;  31:  10, 
11,  12.  Read  also  Ephesians  5:  25-28.  There  are  so  many 
things  that  should  be  carefully  considered  before  entering  into 
the  marriage  relation.  The  first  thing  the  prospective  wife 
should  do  is  to  consider  that  the  marriage  union  is  a  holy  one, 
and,  second,  that  it  should  continue  until  death  shall  part 
them.  If  these  points  were  carefully  considered  before  mar- 
riage, in  connection  with  a  few  others,  there  would  be  few,  if 
any,  divorces.  Third,  the  temper  and  habits  of  each  should  be 
carefully  studied.  If  a  man  is  very  quick  tempered  and 
marries  a  woman  of  similar  nature  they  will  never  live  happily 
together,  especially  if  the  man  takes  a  drink  of  whisky  occa- 
sionally. If  the  woman  finds  out  before  their  marriage  that 
the  man  drinks  she  had  better  break  the  engagement.     If  she 


112 

does  not,  she  might  just  as  well  put  a  rattlesnake  into  her 
bosom  and  say  that  it  would  not  bite  her  as  to  think  of  living 
happily  with  a  man  that  will  drink. 

Some  women  will  say:  "Oh,  I  will  make  him  promise 
me  that  he  will  quit  drinking  before  I  will  marry  him."  He 
tells  her  that  he  will  never  drink  any  more,  and  she  believes  it 
will  be  all  right  to  marry  him.  Then  they  prepare  for  the 
wedding.  The  present  looks  very  bright  indeed  and  the  future 
seems  full  of  roses.  Many  that  see  the  newly  married  couple 
think  they  can  never  have  any  trouble.  Everything  goes  along 
all  right  for  a  time,  but  trouble  will  come  sooner  or  later  to 
that  home,  as  it  does  to  every  home.  One  sorrow  passes,  only 
to  give  place  to  another  and  another  until  the  man  and  wife 
scarcely  know  what  to  do.  The  husband,  who  has  promised 
that  he  would  never  drink  any  more,  forgets  his  promise  and 
takes  to  drinking,  under  the  impression  that  it  will  assist  him 
in  bearing  the  sorrows  of  himself  and  his  family.  One  drink 
calls  for  another  and  soon  he  begins  to  neglect  his  family. 
The  wife,  seeing  that  he  has  broken  his  promise,  is  at  her  wit's 
end,  scarcely  knowing  what  to  do.  Some  of  her  friends  will 
advise  her  not  to  live  with  him.  She  applies  for  a  divorce,  and 
the  court  will  grant  it,  according  to  law. 

I  would  advise  a  woman,  if  she  knows  a  man  drinks  before 
she  marries  him,  not  to  marry  him.  The  Bible  says  that  the 
woman  which  hath  a  husband  is  bound  by  the  law  to  him  so 
long  as  he  sinneth,  but  if  he  be  dead  she  is  loosed  from  him. 
Kead  Romans  7:2,  3.  In  the  present  age  men  have  become  so 
blind  in  sin  and  lust  that  they  do  not  regard  the  law  of  God, 
but  push  onward  in  a  mad  rush  to  have  their  sinful  appetites 
and  fashions  satisfied.     Virtue  and  purity  are  almost  unknown. 


113 

Men  and  women  think  it  all  right  to  have  three  or  four  living 
husbands  and  wives,  because  the  popular  ministers  of  to-day 
do  not  cry  out  against  the  awful  sin  of  adultery,  and  the  peo- 
ple go  on  in  all  kinds  of  sin  and  crime  without  fear  of  God's 
judgment,  which  He  will  in  due  time  pour  out  upon  the  ungodly 
men  and  women. 

Most  young  boys  and  girls  before  they  are  old  enough  to 
go  out  in  company,  talk  among  themselves  about  their  beaus 
or  sweethearts.  Many  mothers  engage  in  this  kind  of  talk 
with  their  children,  and  in  this  way  the  subject  of  marriage  is 
so  common  among  the  boys  and  girls  before  they  are  of  age. 
Many  girls  are  married  at  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  and 
boys  at  seventeen  or  eighteen  years.  Many  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  have  had  two  or  three  husbands  or  wives. 
They  do  not  think  of  the  great  duty  and  care  marriage  should 
place  upon  them.  The  most  they  think  of  is  to  have  a  good 
happy  time,  but  instead  of  a  happy  time  they  have  trouble, 
sorrow  and  dissatisfaction.  The  result  is  everything  except 
what  they  expected. 

Some  marry  for  one  thing  and  some  for  another.  The  writer 
asked  a  certain  young  lady  why  she  wished  to  marry  a  certain 
young  man.  She  answered  that  I  may  have  a  home,  and 
added:  "I  think  he  will  be  good  to  me."  The  writer  said : 
"Suppose  he  has  no  home  to  take  you  to,  what  will  you  do 
then?"  She  could  give  no  answer,  although  she  was  past 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  She  had  engaged  herself  to  him 
without  any  consideration  for  the  future.  No  doubt  most 
young  people  marry  that  way,  especially  among  the  common 
people.  The  rich  are  more  careful  in  their  marriages,  but  will 
have  their  troubles  also,  though  they  man  be  able  to  hide  them 


114 

from  the  public.  A  young  lady  will  marry  a  young  man  be- 
cause he  is  pretty  and  dresses  well ;  another  because  the  young 
man  has  a  good  position  ;  another  because  his  father  or  mother 
has  an  abundance  of  money.  Or  a  young  man  may  desire  to 
marry  a  young  lady  for  similar  reasons.  Marriages  with  such 
motives  as  these  cannot  fail  to  be  unhappy.  The  Bible  says  he 
who  builds  his  house  on  a  sandy  foundation  shall  lose  all  when 
the  storms  and  troubles  of  life  come. 

To  such  marriages  troubles  are  sure  to  come.  Sometimes 
everything  is  lost  in  wild  speculations,  sometimes  through  dis- 
honesty, or  by  sickness  and  death.  Sometimes  a  man  will 
murder  his  wife  or  a  woman  her  husband.  Sometimes  hus- 
bands will  run  off  with  other  men's  wives,  or  wives  with  other 
women's  husbands.  When  such  trials  as  these  come  into  the 
family,  who  then  is  able  to  bear  all  the  distress.  No  family  is 
able  to  withstand  such  trials  unless  supported  by  the  grace  of 
God.  This  is  not  much  thought  of  by  the  young  people  of 
to-day.  All  they  think  of  is  to  have  a  good  and  happy  time. 
Oh !  what  a  sad  mistake  all  are  making  who  expect  to  have  a 
happy  time  in  this  life  without  the  grace  of  God  in  their  soul. 

Oh !  that  the  young  and  old  would  stop  and  think  before 
they  go  farther.  All  the  things  in  this  world  cannot  make  one 
truly  happy,  for  true  happiness  does  not  consist  in  the  things 
of  this  world.  Men  may  have  plenty  of  money,  and  possess 
banks,  farms,  railroads,  horses,  fine  homes,  carriages,  cattle, 
and,  in  fact,  everything  the  world  calls  good,  and  yet  they  can- 
not build  their  hopes  of  happiness  on  any  of  these,  for  they 
will  all  perish.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  families  have  all 
these  and  everything  that  the  heart  could  wish  for,  and  yet 
there  is  no  true  happiness  in  these  homes  without  the  religion 


115 

of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  something  in  the  soul  of 
man  that  all  the  things  of  this  world  cannot  satisfy  without 
true  religion. 

Oh!  how  strange  and  sad  it  is  that  the  human  heart  seeks 
happiness  in  every  way  before  turning  to  true  happiness,  which 
is  the  love  of  God  in  the  soul.  The  Bible  says:  "Seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  righteousness  and  all  things  else 
shall  be  added  unto  you."  It  does  seem  that  all  the  endeavors 
of  mankind  are  lost  in  a  mad  rush  to  seek  the  pleasures  of  this 
world  and  have  a  good  time.  The  Bible  says:  "This  world 
and  all  its  pleasures  shall  pass  away,  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  God  abides  forever  and  forever."  Oh!  old  men,  old 
women,  young  men,  young  women,  boys,  girls,  will  you  be  wise 
and  choose  eternal  life  rather  than  to  enjoy  the  sinful  pleas- 
ures of  this  life  for  a  short  season? 

Yours  truly,  S.  J.  McCRAY. 


The  End. 


HECKMAN       IXI 

BINDERY  INC.        |§| 

l^  MAY  91 

N.  MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA  46962 


